The IRS is taking action to protect taxpayers from identity theft and helping victims of tax-related identity theft
Over the past several years, the IRS has taken numerous steps to combat identity theft and protect taxpayers. This is a top priority for the IRS. We have taken actions to be better prepared in both fraud prevention and victim assistance, and we are continuing our efforts in these areas.
On the prevention side, this means putting in place new processes for handling tax returns, new compliance filters to detect fraud, new initiatives to partner with stakeholders and a continued commitment to investigate the criminals who perpetrate these crimes.
For victim assistance, the IRS is working to speed up case resolution, provide more training for our employees who assist victims of identity theft, and step up outreach to and education of taxpayers so they can prevent and resolve tax-related identity theft issues quickly.
The IRS has designed various new identity theft screening filters that will improve our ability to spot false returns before they are processed. Once a tax return is flagged, we will correspond with the sender before further processing the tax return to make sure we have the right taxpayer. Under an expanded pilot initiative, a group of victims with previously confirmed cases of identity theft will go through a supplementary verification process, which will give us an additional tool to help prevent further identity theft and detect fraud.
The identity theft landscape is constantly changing, as identity thieves continue to create new ways of stealing personal information and using it for their gain. The IRS is firmly committed to working with taxpayers to take care of these problems as quickly as possible.
- Phishing
Bogus IRS website elimination efforts reduce risks
- IRS Criminal Investigation
CI detects and investigates tax fraud and other financial fraud, including fraud related to identity theft.
- Outreach
IRS publications, articles and other resources related to identity theft.
- Testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Nov. 29, 2012)
Beth Tucker, IRS Deputy Commissioner for Operations Support
- Testimony before the Senate Committee on Finance (Mar. 20, 2012)
Steven Miller, IRS Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement
- Testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ( Nov. 4, 2011)
Steven Miller, IRS Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement
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