There are just a few weeks left until tax preparation season kicks off, and today the Internal Revenue Service had some bad news for families that receive the earned income tax credit or the additional child tax credit: they will not receive their tax refunds until the end of February. [More]
IRS
Scammy Indian Call Centers Made Up To $225K/Day Pretending To Be From IRS
By 10.6.16
No one wants to get a call from the Internal Revenue Service, and for many people the tax return process is confusing and fraught with potential for errors. So when someone calls claiming to be from the IRS and in need of more information, or saying you need to pay up or face arrest, you might assume it’s a legitimate call. It’s not. This week, police in India detained hundreds of employees from three different call centers for allegedly making these sorts of scam calls — and raking in big money in the process. [More]
Facebook Might Owe The IRS As Much As $5 Billion In Back Taxes
By 8.1.16
You know what giant corporations really hate to do? Spend lots of their revenue on taxes. And you know what they have to do anyway? Exactly that. But the IRS is saying that Facebook may not have done enough of it, in past years, and may be on the hook for a big fat chunk of cash overdue to the U.S. government. [More]
IRS Relaunches “Get Transcript” Online Tool, Promises It’s More Secure
By 6.8.16
A year after the Internal Revenue Service said hackers used stolen Social Security numbers and other information gleaned from the agency’s system in an attempt to access hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ accounts, the agency says that the Get Transcript tool at the heart of the attack is back online. [More]
4 Ways To Avoid The “Student Loan Tax” Scam
By 6.6.16
Being on the hook for thousands of dollars in student loan debt is pressure enough for most people. They shouldn’t also have to worry about being taken advantage of by “student loan tax” fraudsters in what appears to be the latest iteration of the IRS impersonation scam. [More]
6 Things We Learned About The IRS’s Fight Against Fraud And Identity Theft
By 4.19.16
Things are difficult for the IRS right now. For the last few years, people contacting the IRS have encountered lengthy phone hold times, and identity theft and refund fraud drain billions of dollars’ worth of tax refunds into the pockets of international criminals. The Government Accountability Office has the job of overseeing government agencies, including the IRS, and it released a new report today about its issues and possible ways to fix them. [More]
Reminder: Today Is Not Tax Day
April 15, 2016
Before any of you wake up in a panic this morning, realizing it’s April 15 and you haven’t filed your annual tax return, remember that Tax Day is actually April 18 this year. That’s because Emancipation Day (April 16) falls on a Saturday this year. This holiday — recognized in Washington, D.C. — is being observed today, meaning the D.C.-based IRS office is closed for the day. So enjoy the extra few days, but remember that you’ll still have to file (at least an extension) after the weekend is done. [More]
IRS Now Accepting Cash Tax Payments At Your Local 7-Eleven
By 4.8.16
Jonesing for a Slurpee and still need to pay your taxes? You can kill two birds with one stone with the Internal Revenue Service’s new payment option: taxpayers can fork over what they owe in cash at one of the participating 7,000 7-Eleven locations in the country. [More]
IRS Wants Your Help To Make Its Website Better
By 3.31.16
Earlier this year, the Internal Revenue Service announced that its website was used as an avenue for hackers to get their hands on nearly 500,000 stolen Social Security Numbers. While those ne’er-do-wells apparently didn’t have a difficult time traversing the site, consumers who actually head to the portal for help during tax time aren’t so lucky. For that reason, the agency is asking for help in revamping its online presence — and a chance to win $10,000. [More]
Would You Get An IRS Tattoo If It Meant Never Paying Taxes Again?
By 3.21.16
You might love your mother enough to get her name tattooed on your arm, but what about the Internal Revenue Service? Though it’s unlikely that your average taxpayer would permanently ink the agency’s name on their dermis out of sheer love, some Americans say they’d get an IRS tattoo if it meant they would never have to pay taxes again. [More]
No, The IRS Will Not Call You To Verify Your Tax Return Information
By 3.14.16
Because trying to steal money from others will never get old for criminals, scammers are constantly changing tacks to come up with new ways to rake in their ill-gotten gains. This tax season, there’s a new trick bedeviling taxpayers over the phone. [More]
IRS Waiting On 1 Million Taxpayers To Claim Almost $1B In Refunds From 2012
By 3.10.16
Because we know our readers aren’t the type to pass up free money, now would be a good time for you to check and make sure you claimed your 2012 tax refund: according to the Internal Revenue Service, about a million taxpayers have yet to collect almost a billion dollars in federal refunds from that tax year. And the clock is ticking. [More]
IRS Tool To Protect Identity Theft Victims Vulnerable To Identity Thieves
By 3.1.16
Every year, we warn you about tax return identity theft: bad guys all over the world obtain enough personal information about U.S. taxpayers to file fake tax returns and steal our refunds. After a taxpayer’s identity gets stolen in this way, the Internal Revenue Service issues them a special identification number that they have to enter when filing their tax return. The problem is that these numbers are pretty easy to access, too, and the IRS doesn’t have a good replacement yet. [More]
IRS: Email, Text Scams Targeting Taxpayers Up 400% This Year
By 2.19.16
It’s tax season, which means it’s the prime time for scammers to crawl out from underneath their scammy rocks and try to nab taxpayers’ personal info. So far, this year’s electronic tax scams are even more prevalent than before, the Internal Revenue Service says, surging 400%. [More]
ID Thieves Attack IRS Website Using 460,000 Stolen Social Security Numbers
By 2.10.16
One of the worst things an identity thief can do with a stolen Social Security number is use it to then claim that person’s tax refunds. The Internal Revenue Service has revealed that ID thieves recently tried to attack IRS.gov in an effort to cash in on 460,000 stolen SSNs. [More]
IRS: You’ll Have Until April 18 To File Your Taxes This Year
By 1.15.16
Already stressing over doing your income taxes? You’ll have a few more days of breathing room before they’re due this year: the Internal Revenue Service has set a filing deadline of April 18. [More]
Taxpayer Advocate Concerned About IRS Plans To Move More Support Online
By 1.6.16
It was just last week that we wrote about how this year will probably be better than last year for U.S. taxpayers with questions or problems. Yet looking forward to the next decade or so, changes in how the IRS provides support will mean leaving some Americans behind. [More]
Advocate: Additional IRS Funding Should Be “Extremely Helpful” In Actually Helping Taxpayers
By 12.28.15
As we approach 2016, taxpayers might be wary of dealing with the Internal Revenue Service after last year’s identity theft problems. But according to the IRS’ national taxpayer advocate, the agency is going to be much better at dealing with taxpayers than it was last year. [More]
