IRS warns of 2013 ‘Dirty Dozen’ tax scams

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has just released its annual “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams. The scams range from identity theft and phishing to schemes for filing returns claiming inflated income or deductions and credits you are not entitled to.

Tax scams and schemes happen throughout the year, but scammers are most active during tax season. The IRS says it has redoubled its efforts to protect taxpayers this year, but urges individuals to exercise caution when responding to requests for personal information, hiring someone to prepare their tax returns and responding to offers of “free money” and ways to increase your tax refund. Fraud involving phony information, the filing of a “frivolous” tax claim and certain types of “intentional mistakes” can result in an IRS penalty of $5,000.

Click here to read the full “Dirty Dozen” list on the IRS website. The list includes details about how the scams are perpetrated, how to spot and avoid a scam, and what to do if you are the victim of a scam attempt.

Consumer Action offers many free multilingual publications on how to protect yourself from frauds and scams. Click here to view our online collection.

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