By David M Kendrick CPA, MST
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) recently released their report regarding the audit of the IRS and how they handle identity theft issues that result in fraudulent refunds. The result? There is a need for improvement!
Why the audit? Generally, identity theft victims are unable to e-file their own returns since their SSNs are in use by thieves. In this case, the IRS instructs victims to “paper file” their returns and attach Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit. This, however, delays processing because adequate procedures to handle these special cases in a timely fashion are not in place. Also, the TIGTA found that these cases were not worked timely, sometimes taking longer than a year to resolve!
• Don’t carry your Social Security card or any document(s) with your SSN on it. Rest assured, we go through great lengths to keep your identity safe! When requesting or sending confidential information, we prefer to use our secure web portal. You can sign up by visiting our website tab labeled “Login”, click on Client Portal, and walk through the steps in “register here.” This is just one of the many steps we take to protect your identity. |