The IRS recently released its list of “Dirty Dozen” tax scams to look out for this tax season.
Of particular note to individuals are warnings about communications that purport to be from the IRS, but are actually from scam artists looking to steal personal information. When the IRS looks to contact taxpayers about their returns, they generally contact taxpayers through the mail. IRS agents generally do not call or email individuals about their returns. Specifically, IRS agents never aggressively demand payment or threaten legal action over the phone or through email. Even in cases where individuals may owe money to the IRS, the IRS will never request payment before contacting an individual first, through the mail, with the opportunity to challenge the IRS’s findings.
Other schemes to look out for are tax preparers who promise refunds that seem to good to be true and fake charities that do not qualify for tax deductible donation status.
The remainder of the list generally advises taxpayers to be honest about their returns and resist temptations to overstate deductions or falsely claim tax credits.
The full list of “Dirty Dozen” scams to watch out for can be found at the following link: 2016 IRS Dirty Dozen Scam List
