http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2 ... d-guy?lite
In testimony to a Congressional subcommittee last month, Nina Olson, the taxpayer advocate, said that although taxpayers who are victims of fraud need to be protected, so do the majority of legitimate taxpayers who rely on their refund checks.
“With the introduction of e-filing, combined with the increasing number of refundable credits run through the tax code, our tax system has shifted, for better or worse, to one of instant gratification,” Olson said in the written testimony.
Still, she noted, “The benefit of enjoying such a tax system is somewhat offset by the increased ability of perpetrators to defraud the government.”
Linked article:
http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_new ... -nightmare
The IRS estimates 404,000 people were victims of identity theft tax fraud from mid-2009 to the end of 2011, and officials say the problem is growing...
Jay Foley, a partner with ID Theft Info Source... said one issue is that IRS employees who aren’t part of the identity theft unit may not know how to handle such complaints. That’s why they might audit tax forms instead of use them in an investigation, for example, or not file paperwork correctly.
He recommends that anyone who is a victim of such fraud work directly with the identity theft unit and also contact the Taxpayer Advocate, an independent agency charged with assistant taxpayers who are having problems.
Foley said the bad news is that there is little people can do to shield themselves from such fraud attempts.
The issue about IRS employees not knowing how to deal with complaints is big. My own experience is that the presumption seems to be the complaining taxpayer is the source of the problem, not the victim.
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." - Robert Heinlein