Quick update … We’ve heard from several clients that refunds are coming in from both the IRS and Georgia, but the IRS is still holding the entire refunds of everyone with refundable credits (Earned Income, Child Tax, Education) until at least February 27th. This is an effort at fraud prevention, but it didn’t work well last year and probably won’t again. Criminals adapt to changes way faster than the IRS!
On that note, the IRS wants us to remind you that scammers are prevalent again this year! Like, why wouldn’t they be? The newest scam involves a complex identity theft scheme where the criminals already have your bank account info (remember that Equifax breach?), file a fake tax return with a big refund and deposit it into your account, and then contact you as the IRS to “get the money returned”. I gotta say, pretty creative.
The Georgia Department of Revenue is also trying to combat fraud by sending some taxpayers confirmation letters when their returns are processed. Alas, they thought reminding taxpayers that their returns were subject to review (read: audit) was a good idea in a “we processed your tax return and released your refund” letter. As if the fake fraud letters weren’t scary enough! Reminder: if you do receive a letter from IRS or your state, Tax Facts should be your very first phone call.
Let me know if you haven’t filed yet and need help getting organized or sending your information over to us via our SecureFile Portal.