“Dirty Dozen” tax scam list now includes telephone scams

 

BY ALISTAIR M. NEVIUS, J.D.

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

Identity theft and telephone scams top this year’s list of the “Dirty Dozen” fraudulent tax schemes released by the IRS on Wednesday. The annual list contains various common scams that taxpayers may be subjected to at any time, but the IRS says many of them reach a peak during tax filing season. “These schemes jump every year at tax time,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in a prepared statement.

“Pervasive telephone scams” represent a new entry onto the list. The IRS reports an increase in scams in which callers pretend to be from the IRS and try to steal taxpayers’ money or identities. The IRS says that in these scams the callers may say the victim owes money or is entitled to a huge refund. Sometimes the callers threaten the victim with arrest or threaten that his or her driver’s license will be revoked.

The IRS warns that the callers can appear genuine because they may be able to recite the last four digits of the victim’s Social Security number or may imitate the IRS’s toll-free number on caller ID to make it appear that the IRS is calling.

The IRS also warns that some telephone scams target recent immigrants, who are threatened with arrest or deportation if they do not pay up promptly.

The IRS asks that taxpayers who think they are being targeted by phone scammers to contact the Service at 800-829-1040, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 800-366-4484, and the Federal Trade Commission using the FTC Complaint Assistant at FTC.gov.

The rest of the “Dirty Dozen” is similar to last year’s list:

• Identity theft;
• Phishing;
• False promises of free money from inflated refunds;
• Tax return preparer fraud;
• Hiding income offshore;
• Charitable organization impersonation;
• False income, expenses, or exemptions;
• Frivolous arguments;
• Falsely claiming zero wages or using a false Form 1099;
• Abusive tax structures; and
• Misuse of trusts.

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Filing Season Opens January 30: The IRS plans to begin processing 2012 individual income tax returns on Wednesday, 1/30/13. According to the IRS, the vast majority of filers—more than 120 million households—should be able to start filing tax returns on that date, whether they file electronically or on paper. The IRS will be able to accept tax returns affected by the late Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch, as well as the three major extenders—the state and local sales tax deduction, higher education tuition and fees deduction, and educator expense deduction. Several forms affected by the 2012 American Taxpayer Relief Act, including Form 5695 (Residential Energy Credits), Form 4562 (Depreciation and Amortization), and Form 3800 (General Business Credit), will require more extensive programming and testing of IRS systems. The IRS hopes to begin accepting tax returns including these tax forms between late February and into March; a specific date will be announced in the near future. News Release 2013-2.

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Charitable Contributions

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Estate Planning - Young Families

Young families need to consider estate planning, too
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