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Tax Scams/Consumer Alerts

Tax Scams

Don't fall victim to tax scams. Remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you think you're being scammed, you can report suspected tax fraud activity by calling
1-800-829-0433.

Some of the common scams the IRS sees include:

• The "Dirty Dozen" — 12 Common Scams (IR-2004-26)

• Offering to Help Obtain Tax Benefits — targets have included military families
  (IR-2003-63)

• Schemes involving Medical Professionals (FS-2003-12)

• Schemes Promoting Use of Disabled Access Credit (IR-2002-17)

• Home-Based Business Tax Avoidance Schemes (IR-2002-13)

• Slavery Reparation Scams (IR-2002-08) and court cases involving such scams
  (FS-2002-08)

Related Items:

• Tax Return Errors and Frivolous Tax Arguments

• Criminal Investigation's Tax Fraud Alerts

Phony Arguments

No matter how some things are sliced, they're still baloney. If someone tells you that you don't have to pay taxes, check out The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments (PDF 405K) . This IRS.gov exclusive addresses some of the more common false "legal" arguments made by those opposed to compliance with the federal tax laws. Each contention is briefly explained, followed by a discussion of the legal authority that rejects the contention. The second section deals with frivolous arguments encountered in collection due process cases. The final section illustrates penalties imposed on those pursuing frivolous cases.

IR-2003-28 details penalties the Tax Court has imposed from April 2001 through March 4, 2003, on those using frivolous court cases to delay IRS collection actions.

Credit Counseling Organizations

The IRS is concerned that some organizations are using their tax-exempt status to skirt consumer protection laws. Get the details through this IRS consumer alert.

Identity and Financial Theft Scam

Be on the alert for a scam that uses phony bank correspondence and IRS forms to trick unwary bank customers into disclosing their personal and financial information to the scam promoters. The information is used to steal the customer's identity and bank account deposits, run up charges on credit cards, apply for loans, services or benefits in the customer's name, file fraudulent tax returns and more. The phony IRS forms used in this scam may be labeled W-9095, W-8BEN or W-8888. News release IR-2002-55 has more details.

Report instances of this fraud to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at
1-800-366-4484.

The Comptroller of the Currency issued Alerts 2002-3 and 2002-6, warning of this identity theft scam and including copies of phony bank correspondence and the phony W-9095. These are on the 2002 Alerts page of the Comptroller's Web site.

Learn more about identity theft.