Dirty Dozen: Taking tax advice on social media can be bad news for taxpayers; schemes circulating involving tax forms.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service continued the Dirty Dozen series with a warning on day seven about trusting tax advice on social media that can lure otherwise honest taxpayers and tax professionals into compromising tax situations.

Social media can circulate inaccurate or misleading tax information, and the IRS has recently seen several examples. These can involve common tax documents like Form W-2 or more obscure ones, like Form 8944 that’s aimed at a very limited, specialized group. Both schemes encourage people to submit false, inaccurate information in hopes of getting a refund.

“There are many ways to get good tax information, including from a trusted tax professional, tax software and IRS.gov. But people should be incredibly wary about following advice being shared on social media,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “The IRS continues to see a lot of inaccurate information that could get well-meaning taxpayers in trouble. People should remember that there is no secret way to fill out a form and simply get a larger refund that they aren’t entitled to. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

Fraudulent form filing and bad advice on social media are part of the 2023 IRS annual Dirty Dozen campaign – a list of 12 scams and schemes that put taxpayers and the tax professional community at risk of losing money, personal information, data and more.

Working together as the Security Summit, the IRS, state tax agencies and the nation’s tax industry have taken numerous steps since 2015 to warn people about common scams and schemes during tax season and beyond, including identity theft schemes. The Security Summit initiative is committed to protecting taxpayers, businesses and the tax system against fraud and identity theft.
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Internal Revenue Service Security Summit partners called on tax professionals to increase efforts to inform clients about the Identity Protection PIN Opt-In Program that can protect against tax-related identity theft.

The IRS, state tax agencies and the nation’s tax industry – working together as the Security Summit  – need assistance from tax professionals to spread the word to clients that the IP PIN is now available to anyone who can verify their identity.

Sharing information about the IP PIN Opt-In Program is the second in a five-part weekly series sponsored by the Summit partners to highlight critical steps tax professionals can take to protect client data. This year’s theme “Boost Security Immunity: Fight Against Identity Theft” is an effort to urge tax professionals to intensify efforts to secure their systems and protect client data during this pandemic and its aftermath.

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IRS Criminal Investigation Marks International Fraud Awareness Week Highlighting Successes From FY20 (This was previously posted by the IRS Highlighting Fraud Awareness Week In December)

A Message from James C. Lee, Chief Criminal Investigation

This week we recognize International Fraud Awareness Week by highlighting our many successes in combating fraud and protecting taxpayers. Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of publishing our FY 2020 Annual report which focuses on business results and successes from the previous fiscal year.  This year was different as half of the year was spent under the new realities that COVID-19 has brought us.  Court appearances were virtual and significantly delayed as judicial districts around the country came up with creative ways to be safe and keep the work moving.  Interviewing taxpayers took on new challenges with PPE while search warrants also brought about a new list of precautions, we must take to protect all involved.
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