Sadly, the world has a large number of unscrupulous people lying in wait to pounce on the unsuspecting person. You should already be familiar with identity theft and what you should do if your credit or debit card is ever stolen. However, that may not be enough. A lot of people may not be aware that there are also tax scams out there. As one person may be phishing for your personal information through email, someone else may try to “help” you cut down your tax bill. There is nothing wrong with wanting a tax break, but these are not what you want to do.
It may seem surprising, but there are a number of tax scams floating around in the world. Some are complete fabrications and others are derived from actual tax breaks or write-offs, but transformed into illegal methods. Identity phishing in relation to taxes is one of the ways scams have evolved. Phishing is not new, but now during tax season, you may receive an email from someone supposedly from the IRS who claims in a formal-looking letter that you have an outstanding refund. In order to collect this refund, you must click a link that takes you to their website where you then fill out all your information. Since there is no refund, your information goes straight to the thief, who then uses it to open new credit card accounts or, depending upon the information you gave, dig into your bank accounts.
The scam of zero wage claims is a popular tax scam. The scammer reels you in with the lure of stating you do not owe any taxes if you have no income. Technically, you should file taxes every year regardless, but the general rule is that if you made less than $4,000 you do not have to file. Always double-check your state’s tax laws to be sure. With this tax scam, even people who make over that amount will try to file different forms with their usual forms that claim they have little to no income. The filer could also include a written statement arguing against the information the IRS has received as well as trying to state tax codes to get by. However, this is not likely to work. Filing fake forms or making false statements can get you into big trouble, and while you may not have been audited at any other point in time, doing this is sure to get you under more scrutiny.
Look out for tax preparers that are less than honest. This may not be a scam so much as it is sneaky, dishonest behavior. When you file, the preparer behind the desk makes sure that some of your return is rerouted into their wallet. Some companies may charge fees much higher than they should and advertise fraudulently. The biggest problem is that no matter what happens to your tax form or what someone else may do to it, because your name is on it, you can get into trouble as well, and may end up paying for a lot more than you wanted.
