The IRS Dirty Dozen

For the last several years, the IRS has issued a list of “Dirty Dozen” tax scams. Below are a couple recently released from 2019.

Promises of Inflated Refunds

Unethical tax return preparers promise taxpayers inflated tax refunds. Often, it’s the elderly and low income taxpayers, with no obligation to file, who are targeted by these scam artists. The IRS suggests that people should be wary of preparers who promise larger refunds than competitors or larger refunds than they are used to seeing. Some taxpayers never even see these refunds. Also part of this scam is falsely filing returns claiming no wages or ‘correcting’ a Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement or Form 1099 to show zero income.

Phone Scams

This continues to be a problem. The IRS warned, “Aggressive criminals pose as IRS agents in hopes of stealing money or personal information.” These phone calls often involve hostile scammers ordering immediate payment and making threats against the person. The IRS will never collect money over the phone.