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New Tax Fraud Safeguards May Mean Delays in Getting Refunds
Source:
nbcnews.com
- Jan 25, 2016
The IRS, state authorities and the tax preparation industry have joined together to combat identity thieves rushing to file their bogus state and federal returns in your name while you're still gathering your paperwork.
The unprecedented public-private partnership, known as the Security Summit Initiative, is aimed at slowing the flood of phony tax returns filed each year by imposters armed with stolen Social Security numbers and counterfeit paperwork that can allow them to claim big refunds before the real taxpayers - whose identities they've assumed - can file their legitimate returns.
People don't know they've been victimized until they file their return and it's rejected - because the IRS computers only accept one filing per Social Security number. Dealing with all the paperwork involved to prove you were victimized can slow down your return by months.
Identity thieves have been quite successful at fooling the IRS and state taxing authorities in recent years. The IRS reported that in 2013, it paid out $5.8 billion in fraudulent refunds to identity thieves.
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Category: IRS
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