Be on the lookout for phony IRS letters

March, 01 2017 by Charla Suaste

Tax season is in full swing and the Internal Revenue Service is already busy issuing hundreds of audit letters to taxpayers around the country. However, while real IRS letters make their way through the mail system, tax scammers have been quick to try and ship out their own tax bills in an attempt to take advantage of the honest, unsuspecting taxpayer.
 

The IRS warns that these phony tax letters mirror the CP2000 letters that are issued by the Internal Revenue Service every year; however, these fake tax bills do differ from legitimate CP2000’s in several different ways. These fraudulent notices:
 

• Seem to have been issued by an Austin, Texas address
• Reference the taxpayer’s 2015 return
• Note the Affordable Care Act as the tax issue in question
• Request that all checks be made out to “I.R.S” and sent to the “Austin Processing Center” at a post office box. (Real IRS notices require checks to be made out to “United States Treasury.”)

With that information in mind, it is important to note that tax scammers have been known to change their plan of action once their tactics have been made public. If you receive an IRS notice and are unsure about its authenticity, do not simply send a check; instead, reach out to the IRS to confirm that the issue is legitimate.
 

For additional tips on how to be vigilant against tax scams this season, please visit IRS.gov.