Hart County Taxpayer Victim of Tax ID Fraud

Hart County Sheriff’s office has another reported  case of tax ID theft. Last week, the victim told authorities he had filed a request for an extension on his returns with his CPA in Hartwell.

He said when his CPA tried to file the extension with the IRS, he was told a return had already been filed using the victim’s personal identity and information. The victim said he has had to call his bank and credit card companies to alert them of the fraud.

Tax fraud is on the rise and in February, the IRS announced a nationwide crackdown on tax scams and tax fraud such as the one reported last week.

IRS spokesman in Georgia, Mark Green said this year, people who have been victims of tax fraud in the past are being assigned a new personal identification number.

“For those taxpayers who fall into that category, the IRS has taken the extra step of assigning them a personal ID number,” Green said. “This is a number that the taxpayer creates and submits. They will then put that number on all future returns so the IRS knows they are the true tax filer.”

Green said it’s very important victims contact the IRS to report what has happened and file a report with local law enforcement.  However, he said many people don’t report it because they’re afraid the IRS will blame them, but he said that’s not the case.

“We’re here to help. I’ve been a victim myself so I know and I do understand that once you become a victim, you want someone to help you. And it’s OK to ask for help and we want you to ask for help so that we can ensure that you don’t become a victim again,” Green said.

In fiscal 2012, the IRS prevented the issuance of more than $20 billion in fraudulent refunds – up from $14 billion the year before.

And so far this year, the IRS has already stopped before any refund, 5 million suspicious returns.

If you think you’ve been a victim of a tax fraud scheme, contact your local law enforcement office and also report it to the IRS by going online to www.irs.gov