With tax season in full swing, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) urges U.S. taxpayers and return preparers to be on the lookout for fraud schemes that could compromise their bank accounts and personal information, as well as the U.S. tax system.
Current fraud schemes include: ▪ Criminals creating fictitious estates and trusts to generate fraudulent refunds.
▪ New client scams where cyber criminals impersonate new, potential clients to trick tax preparers into responding to their emails. Once the preparer responds, the scammer sends a malicious attachment or URL that can compromise the preparer's computer systems and allow the attacker to access sensitive client information.
▪ Tax schemes, some on social media, that encourage taxpayers to file fraudulent returns featuring inaccurate income, false withholdings or fake credits. Taxpayers are ultimately responsible for ensuring that information is accurate on their tax returns.
U.S. taxpayers should: ▪ Protect their wallets and their identities by ensuring they don’t respond to unsolicited emails, phone calls or texts claiming to be the IRS.
▪ Choose reputable tax return preparers who sign and enter their preparer tax identification number (PTIN) on tax forms and don’t promise excessive refunds.
▪ Rely on IRS.gov for answers to questions about tax forms and eligibility for credits and deductions.
IRS-CI dedicates nearly 70% of its time and resources to investigating tax crimes that include questionable refund schemes, return preparer fraud, abusive tax schemes, and more. In fiscal year 2024, IRS-CI initiated 1,373 tax crime investigations and identified $2.12 billion in tax fraud. Six hundred fifteen defendants were sentenced to an average of 27 months in prison for tax crimes during this same time frame.
During FY25, the IRS-CI Atlanta Field Office, which covers the states of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi, has assisted in the criminal conviction of tax preparers for submitting false returns.
