The owner of a former used car dealership in Arizona that admitted to defrauding dozens of customers just so happens to also be a long-time employee of the federal government, helping consumers with financial issues through an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center. [More]
IRS
Provision In Highway Funding Bill Would Require The IRS To Use Private Debt Collectors
By 11.2.15
While federal regulators continually work to crack down on private debt collectors that utilize unsavory, illegal tactics to make consumers pay up, government agencies often contract these entities to collect a variety of debts. That practice could continue if a provision in the Highway Trust Fund Bill receives approval. [More]
Sorry, You Can’t Pay The IRS With A Check For $100 Million Anymore
By 9.14.15
You there! The one ready to write a big, fat check to the Internal Revenue Service — drop that pen. The agency has announced that it will no longer accept checks for $100 million, so you’ll just have to write more than one check. So yeah, you can go ahead and pick that pen up again now. [More]
You Can Now Rate And Review U.S. Government Services On Yelp
By 8.19.15
The wait time to get customer support from the Internal Revenue Service is stretching on into infinity. The Transportation Security Administration agents at one particular airport checkpoint always seem to have it out for you. There’s one particular bathroom at Yellowstone National Park that is the best and everyone should know about it. Whatever your experience with U.S. government services, you can now review it on Yelp. [More]
IRS: Identity Thieves Accessed More Taxpayer Accounts Than We Thought
By 8.17.15
Almost three months after the Internal Revenue Service said identity thieves accessed more than 100,000 taxpayer accounts in its databases, the agency says that a review shows more accounts were exposed and there were more attempts to gain access to them than previously reported. [More]
NYC Mailman Accused Of Stealing More Than $1M In Tax Refunds In Years-Long Scheme
By 7.2.15
Is there some kind of greedy bug sweeping through the New York City mail system? Okay, probably not, but for the second time in two months a postal employee has been charged by federal prosecutors with taking part in a scheme to pad their own pockets. The most recent case involves a mail carrier who allegedly stole more than $1 million in tax refunds. [More]
Walmart Accused Of Using Its Charitable Foundation To Build More Walmarts
By 6.16.15
There are more than 4,500 Walmart stores in the U.S., but the nation’s largest retailer continues to expand. The company, once associated with rural communities, has recently made pushes into urban markets. And a new complaint to the IRS accuses Walmart of wrongfully using its tax-exempt Walmart Foundation charity to get a foothold in those cities. [More]
IRS Working With State Agencies & Tax Preparation Companies To Combat Refund Fraud
By 6.12.15
It’s been a rough year for the Internal Revenue Service, what with thieves stealing information for roughly 100,000 taxpayers and a slew of fraudulent refunds filed with TurboTax that had the FBI and various states scrambling to investigate. Now the IRS says it’s working with state agencies and tax-preparation firms to combat stolen-identity refund fraud. [More]
IRS Agrees To Share Copies Of Fake Tax Returns With Victims Of Identity Theft
By 6.3.15
After lawmakers called on the Internal Revenue Service for more transparency for victims of identity theft, the agency says it will give those people copies of fake tax returns filed using their name and information. [More]
The IRS Is Still Using Windows XP, Has A Cybersecurity Staff Of 363 People
By 5.29.15
In the last few years, tax return fraud has become a serious problem at the state and federal levels, thanks to the growth of e-filing and security holes in IRS and third-party tax software systems. Is the IRS to blame for this trend? There are really only two options: the IRS is either broke or incompetent. [More]
FBI Opening Investigation Into IRS Breach That Affected 100,000 Taxpayers
By 5.28.15
After the news yesterday that the Internal Revenue Service reportedly suspects Russian identity thieves were behind a breach that allowed thieves to access information for approximately 100,000 taxpayers, the Federal Bureau of Investigation says it’s now investigating the incident. [More]
IRS Suspects Russian Identity Thieves In Data Breach
By 5.27.15
You may remember that the Internal Revenue Service announced late yesterday that about 100,000 taxpayers’ personal information was breached when thieves armed with their personal information were able to log in to the IRS transcript system and extract even more sensitive information about their victims. Today, we learned that the IRS suspects that an organized group of hackers out of Russia are responsible for the 200,000 attempts to extract taxpayer data. [More]
IRS: Thieves Obtained Information On 100,000 Taxpayers From Transcript System
By 5.26.15
A tax transcript is a document from the IRS that shows key information from tax returns that you’ve already filed, or changes to what you and the government owe each other that may have been made after the return was filed. You can normally order them online, but the system is now closed after the IRS learned that people identified only as “thieves” accessed transcripts for about 100,000 people. [More]
IRS Investigating How Woman’s Tax Call Ended Up On Howard Stern Show
By 5.20.15 — Updated: 2.14.17
A woman in Cape Cod thought she was just talking to an IRS representative over the phone, but what she — and apparently the agent — didn’t realize was that their call, including her personal info, was being broadcast to listeners of Howard Stern’s radio show. [More]
IRS Hung Up On 8.1 Million Taxpayers Without Answering Phone
By 4.22.15
We knew going into this tax season that budget cuts to the Internal Revenue Service would result in less help for taxpayers and a likely increase in taxpayer fraud and errors, but today IRS Commissioner John Koskinen detailed exactly how badly things went this year. [More]
Michael Bolton Serenades The IRS: You’re The Anus Of Our Country
By 4.13.15
Since 2010, Congress has cut the budget for the IRS by around 20%, resulting in thousands of jobs being cut and millions of Americans unable to get much-needed help with their tax returns this year. This has had the effect of just making some people hate the IRS even more than they already did, but is this a case of kicking a man when he’s down? [More]
How To Verify Your Identity In Case The IRS Suspects Suspicious Tax Return Activity
By 3.18.15
In the aftermath of revelations that fraudsters exploited TurboTax and had possibly filed bogus returns in many states, the Internal Revenue Service is contacting people linked to suspiciously filed returns, and asking them to verify their identity to find out if the return is real or not. [More]
IRS Impersonation Scam Is Largest In History, Cost Consumers $15.5M
By 3.12.15
The 2015 tax season has been fraught with complications, from the fraudulent use of tax returns to the “dirty dozen” scams meant to tear consumers away from their money. During a Senate Finance Committee hearing exploring ways in which consumers could better be protected from such hustles, federal investigators divulged more information about one of the most prevalent tax-time scams in recent years, saying it has now targeted 366,000 taxpayers to the tune of $15.5 million. [More]
