Health & Fitness
IRS Identity Theft Season Begins Now
Each year thieves try to steal billions in Federal Withholdings by stealing your identity. As the IRS focuses more attention on this quickly growing problem, now is the time of year to be extra vigilant.
Your federal tax account at the IRS has plenty of money in it from all the taxes withheld from your paycheck during the course of the year. Until you file your tax return, the IRS does not know whether you need to pay more in or they need to refund you the excess amounts withheld.
Thieves know this too, and will try to file a fraudulent tax return before you have time to submit your own. By doing this, they can steal some of your withholdings and be long gone by the time you file your own tax return. So what can you do?
Find out what's happening in San Juan Capistranowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
- File early. The sooner you file your tax return, the less likely a thief will beat you to your refund.
- Check your credit reports. See if there is any suspicious activity on your accounts and on your credit reports.
- Protect your ID. Be suspicious; never give out your Social Security Number, do not leave your credit card unattended, never give ID information to someone who called you, use the password function on your phone, be aware of strange mail, and shred important documents. Often your best defense to IRS ID theft is to use best practices to protect your information.
If the IRS suspects something is wrong with your filed tax return they will send you a notice. If this happens to you:
- Respond Immediately. Get the direct contact information from the IRS web site and let them know that you have a possible identity theft problem.
- File an Identity Theft Affidavit (IRS form 14039). This will record your problem with the IRS and they will take extra steps to ensure your account activity is coming from you and not the ID thief.
- File a police report.
- Contact the credit bureaus.
Posted by:
Froley Tax Services
24672 San Juan Avenue Suite 103
Dana Point, CA 92629
Phone: (949) 489-2088
Fax: (949) 266-9931
www.froleytax.com
craig@froleytax.com