For any American, the threat of identity theft is real. It’s even more scary, however, when fraudsters assume another’s identity in order to steal federal tax refunds. Fortunately, the IRS is taking steps to both prevent the theft from happening and to help mitigate any headache that might occur if one’s identity is stolen.
Below are some warning signs that should alert you to the fact that your identify, at least for tax purposes, may have been stolen:
- –More than one tax return was filed for you;
- –You owe additional tax, have a refund offset or have had collection actions taken against you for a year you did not file a tax return;
- –IRS records indicate you received more wages than you actually earned; or
- –Your state or federal benefits were reduced or cancelled because the agency received information reporting an income change.
If you confirm that your identity has been stolen then you should immediately do the following:
- –File a report with the local police;
- –File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or the FTC Identity Theft hotline:
- –Contact one of the three major credit bureaus to place a “fraud alert’ on your account (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion); and
- –Close any accounts that have been tampered with or opened fraudulently.
- –Respond immediately to any IRS notice and call the number provided;
- –Complete IRS Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit. Use a fillable form at IRS’s website, print, then mail or fax according to instructions;
- –Continue to pay your taxes and file your tax return, even if you must do so by paper; and
- –If you previously contacted IRS and did not have a resolution, contact the Identity Protection Specialized Unit.
Even if the above steps are taken, it could take as long as 6 months to resolve the confusion with the IRS. For additional information one can review two recently released fact sheets from the IRS on this topic.