Tax scam warnings after enactment of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

Enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is resulting in higher take home pay for American workers through tax rate reductions, bonuses and wage increases. Tax reform also generates long-term economic benefits from increased business investment, productivity and jobs. As these benefits reach more American households, we must also make sure that taxpayers keep more of their hard-earned income by guarding against tax season scams.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is warning taxpayers about a widespread scam in which thieves are stealing taxpayer data to file fraudulent tax returns, having the tax refunds deposited into the taxpayers’ existing bank accounts and then using scare tactics to take those fraudulent returns from taxpayers. The IRS has released multiple warnings about this particular scam because the number of potential taxpayer victims have jumped significantly. The IRS warns that thieves may be altering their tactics for stealing the refunds, but the agency describes two versions of the scam: 1) “criminals posing as debt collection agency officials acting on behalf of the IRS contacted the taxpayers to say a refund was deposited in error, and they asked the taxpayers to forward the money to their collection agency;” and 2) “the taxpayer who received the erroneous refund gets and automated call with a recorded voice saying he is from the IRS and threatens the taxpayer with criminal fraud charges, an arrest warrant and a ‘blacklisting’ of their Social Security Number. The recorded voice gives the taxpayer a case number and a telephone number to call to return the refund.” For the full story, pick up a copy of the Mountain Home News or click on this link to subscribe to the newspaper's online edition.