It’s that time of year again, tax season. When someone
thinks of tax season what do they think of? Stress? How about fraud? Right now a
crime that is occurring in Meridian Township and around the United States is tax fraud, which
is a form of identity theft. In most cases the fraudsters are using the social
security number of a victim without the victim even knowing. Sometime the
victim just won’t get their return back or after sending in their tax paperwork
they will receive a letter in the mail explaining that their taxes have already
been filed and that the tax return was sent out.
The IRS does not cross reference every tax return
application they receive. Many times unless their computer system shows an error
they will not even catch a fraudulent tax return until it has already been
processed.
Some steps you can
take to insure that you are not a victim of tax fraud:
-Make sure that you do not give out your social security
number to anyone unless you can verify who they are. Once the fraudster gets
your social security number they can apply for credit cards or tax returns on
your behalf.
-Do not carry your social security card with you. Leave it
at home in a safe place.
-Run annual credit checks on you and any other adults in you
household. Free credit reports can be done at www.annualcreditreport.com.
-Do not respond to suspicious emails, text messages, or
phone calls.
-File your taxes early if possible.
Resources:
Go to www.irs.gov for any additional information.
