Identity theft tax fraud has become a huge problem. The Treasury inspector general for tax administration told congress that in 2010, 940,000 fraudulent returns were filed by identity thieves. Those refunds would have added up to 6.5 billion dollars, and he said there could have been another 1.5 million returns they didn't catch, with potential
Identity theft tax fraud has become a huge problem. The Treasury inspector general for tax administration told congress that in 2010, 940,000 fraudulent returns were filed by identity thieves. Those refunds would have added up to 6.5 billion dollars, and he said there could have been another 1.5 million returns they didn't catch, with potential fraudulent refunds of more than 5.2 billion. Career criminals are finding it easier to steal from the IRS thanks to electronic filing and the ability to access and steal people's social security numbers, including the social security numbers of those who have died (those numbers become part of the public record by law). Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, who has introduced a bill, said, "There is almost no discentive, because the penalty is so low for a thief to do this repeatedly." The question now is, what can we do to reduce the likelihood of being a victim of identity theft?
The New York Times, 5/27/2012
Leave a Comment
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *