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02/01/2019
Tax Day is Coming: How to Guard Yourself Against Tax Identity Theft
Nextadvisor Blog
Accountants and IRS agents, rejoice: tax season is upon us. While the rest of the country groans and starts assembling the necessary paperwork to complete this least-favorite annual ritual, another group of people is gearing up, as well — identity thieves. Tax returns are a huge potential payday for enterprising fraudsters, with confirmed fraudulent tax returns reaching its peak in 2015 to the tune of 1.4 million. Since then, tax identity theft has actually decreased — dropping 65% over the past two years, according to the IRS.
However, one of the biggest factors behind this decrease has been awareness campaigns by the IRS, FTC and consumer protection groups — like the Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week campaign — as well as efforts made at the state and federal levels to increase security. Like most forms of crime, the better educated people are about how to protect themselves, the better they can avoid falling victim. Tax identity theft may be on a two-year downswing, but there are some potential issues to be aware of going into the 2019 tax season which could lead to a spike in reported fraud. Read on to learn what’s different this year and what you can do to guard yourself against tax identity theft.
Why tax identity thieves have a potential advantage this year
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