Sunday, April 7, 2013

The Dirty Dozen: 12 Tax Scams

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323611604578396330967253970.html

This is a short and interesting article from the Wall Street Journal which talks about the Internal Revenue Service's annual list of 12 tax scams (The Dirty Dozen Tax Scams, 2013) . In this list, the IRS has ranked 12 tax scams that are highly common during tax season. As the deadline for filing taxes approaches, it leads to stress, anxiety and confusion among taxpayers. Though most of the scams deal with people trying to cheat the IRS, the two most serious ones involve people cheating each other. Namely, 'identity theft' and 'posing as the IRS'.

Technology has increased the possibility of identity theft. Similarly, in this scenario, many taxpayers can fall prey to other online tax scams.

Cons try to pose as the IRS and send emails which include the IRS logo for authenticity. They may direct the receiver to another webpage where they may be asked to enter their social security number and other confidential information.

It should be kept in mind that the IRS never contacts taxpayers via electronic means. Therefore, one should always ignore any such emails.

For the full list of the 12 common tax scams please see the following:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/dirty-dozen-tax-scams-1.aspx

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