{"id":1484665,"date":"2024-08-20T00:55:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T04:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1484665"},"modified":"2024-08-20T00:55:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T04:55:00","slug":"irs-launches-initiative-to-combat-growing-number-of-tax-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/irs-launches-initiative-to-combat-growing-number-of-tax-scams\/1484665\/","title":{"rendered":"IRS Launches Initiative To Combat Growing Number Of Tax Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"

IRS Launches Initiative To Combat Growing Number Of Tax Scams<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times<\/a> (emphasis ours),<\/em><\/p>\n

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced a new coalition with members of the tax industry on Friday seeking to counter the growth of scams threatening tax systems and taxpayers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The new \u201cCoalition Against Scam and Scheme Threats\u201d (CASST) initiative was convened at the request of IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel.<\/p>\n

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington on Jan. 4, 2024.\u00a0(Madalina Vasiliu\/The Epoch Times)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

It will \u201cwork to expand outreach and education about emerging scams, develop new approaches to identify potentially fraudulent returns at the point of filing and create infrastructure improvements to protect taxpayers as well as federal, state and industry tax systems<\/strong>,\u201d the IRS said in an Aug. 16 press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The agency has reported<\/a> a rising number of identity theft cases. In the 2024 filing season, the IRS confirmed 15,242 instances of fraudulent returns, indicating they were filed by scammers to claim refunds owed to other people. The agency prevented the issuance of more than $180 million in refunds related to these returns.<\/p>\n

The 2024 number was more than 20 percent higher than the confirmed identity theft cases during the 2023 season.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Additionally, the IRS\u2019s Identity Theft Victims Assistance unit received<\/a> 294,138 reports of identity theft in fiscal year 2023, according to a report by the Taxpayer Advocate Service. This is the second highest in five years and more than 217 percent up compared to fiscal year 2019.<\/p>\n

The CASST task force will \u201cbetter protect taxpayers from falling prey to unscrupulous actors by leveraging multilateral relationships across the tax ecosystem to minimize the filing of fraudulent tax returns,\u201d the IRS stated.<\/p>\n

In addition to the IRS, other members of the joint effort include the Federation of Tax Administrators <\/strong>which represents state tax agencies, national tax professional organizations, and leading tech firms operating in the tax industry.<\/p>\n

Groups like the American Coalition for Taxpayer Rights and the National Association of Computerized Tax Processors have announced their support for the program. In total, the joint effort has the backing of more than 60 different groups from the private sector.<\/p>\n

The joint effort aims to put in new protections by the 2025 filing season to prevent taxpayers from being scammed. The group will work to make structural changes to improve the ability to spot and stop the scams.<\/p>\n

This includes improving PTIN and EFIN validation as well as steps to counter \u201cghost preparers,\u201d referring to fake tax preparers who encourage people to claim credits and benefits for which they don\u2019t qualify. They charge a hefty fee from taxpayers and then disappear after the return is prepared, leaving taxpayers to deal with the consequences of incorrect claims.<\/p>\n

Scamming Taxpayers<\/h2>\n

Over the past months, the IRS has issued warnings about several scams targeting taxpayers. In April, the agency issued<\/a> an alert over fake charities seeking donations from unsuspecting people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see repeated instances of scammers using major disasters as a way to prey on well-meaning taxpayers. In these tragic situations, many people want to help, but con artists too frequently come in posing as charitable groups to take advantage of the situation, stealing money and personal information,\u201d said Werfel.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople should remember it\u2019s important to never feel pressured to give donations immediately.<\/strong> They should do some research and only donate to clearly established charities that help victims.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some scammers make use of the IRS\u2019s offer in compromise (OIC) program<\/a> to mislead taxpayers. OIC is an initiative aimed at helping taxpayers who cannot pay federal tax debts.<\/p>\n

Many taxpayers are applying for the program after being pushed into it by scamsters who charged excessive fees for their services, the IRS stated.<\/p>\n

Earlier in March, the IRS warned taxpayers about phishing scams<\/a> designed to steal their personal information. Identity thieves are attempting to trick taxpayers into clicking online links that entice them to submit private info or download malware to their systems.<\/p>\n

IRS warned people not to click any unsolicited communication claiming to be from the agency as it could load malware onto their computers and steal information.<\/p>\n

Then, there were scams that encouraged taxpayers to apply for refunds<\/a> for which they are not eligible. For instance, some taxpayers were found claiming fuel tax credits that are only applicable for certain business activities such as running a farm or purchasing aviation gasoline. Taxpayers were found to have created fictional household employees to claim refunds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe IRS has seen hundreds of thousands of dubious claims come in where it appears taxpayers are claiming credits for which they are not eligible, leading to refunds being delayed and the need for taxpayers to show they have legitimate documentation to support these claims,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nMon, 08\/19\/2024 – 20:55<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/irs-launches-initiative-combat-growing-number-tax-scams<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IRS Launches Initiative To Combat Growing Number Of Tax Scams Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1484666,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1484665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbimBl-6eed","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/08\/image289329_0-hVkHp7.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1484665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1484666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1484665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1484665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1484665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}