If you have only one job and take the standard deduction, filing your taxes can be pretty simple. It’s so simple, in fact, that fraudsters are happy to do it for you, stealing your refund in the process. What happens to taxpayers who get stuck in this situation? Tax fraud is complicated, and sometimes they end up waiting for a very long time to get their money back. [More]
tax fraud
Ex-Employees Claim Intuit Let Fraudulent TurboTax Returns Through For The Money
By 2.23.15
Are fraudulent tax returns the fault of the IRS, or caused by a weakness in the most popular software programs that consumers use to file their taxes? Former employees of Intuit, maker of TurboTax, allege that the company prevented security staff from flagging and shutting down obviously fraudulent accounts. Why? Market share. Fraudsters were ditching TurboTax and using other tax software when the company flagged their returns. [More]
Minnesota Stops Taking Returns Filed With TurboTax, Citing Possible Fraudulent Activity
By 2.6.15
UPDATE: Intuit announced this afternoon that it’s halting all state e-filed tax returns while investigating reports of fraudulent activity. [More]
Tax Refund Fraudsters May Have Targeted Physicians
By 4.22.14
Plenty of Americans don’t file their tax returns until the very last week: it’s just human nature. We shared scary warnings many times before this year’s April 15 deadline that fraudsters are filing Americans’ returns before they do, harvesting their refunds. Some even scarier news (if you’re a health care provider) broke today: some state medical societies report outbreaks of tax return scams among their members. [More]
Tax Fraudsters Stealing Companies’ Databases of W-2s To File Your Taxes Before You Do
By 4.15.14
You’re great at security: you manage your long, secure passwords effectively, you shred all of your sensitive documents thoroughly, and you check your credit report and your online statements frequently. Good job! But all the micromanaging in the world can’t prevent you from being a victim of tax fraud if a hacker intercepts your W-2 and all of the information in it before it ever even gets to you. [More]
TD Bank Teller Accused Of Stealing $100K From Customer Accused Of Cheating State Out Of $545K In Tax Refunds
By 6.27.12
Two wrongs don’t make a right, and stealing money from someone who stole it to begin with does not earn you a Get Out of Jail Free card. At least that’s what the authorities are telling a former TD Bank teller who stands accused of siphoning off nearly $100,000 from a customer who has been indicted on charges of deceiving the state of New Jersey into paying out $545,000 in tax refunds. [More]
U.S. Seeks to Silence Tax Evasion Prophet
By 4.14.06
In a blatant maneuver to put the “scur” into tax evaders, the Justice Department is seeking a court order against a Michigan couple promoting what the government says is the number one tax dodge scheme in America.
