Help! My Tax ID Was Stolen

Mar 16, 2015 By Evan Nielsen In Taxation No Comment Tags : , ,

With all the news surrounding the likelihood that tax refunds may be delayed due to a slashed IRS budget, it would seem that things couldn’t get much slower. Consider though the circumstance of having your tax identity stolen, and your refund held up while you try to undo what someone else has fraudulently done. Even though filing online will speed up the processing of your return, when you do so, you run the risk that someone else has already filed using your identity. If that were to happen, your “refund” may have already been sent to someone else!

 

USA Today has the following to say about how tax identity theft happens:

 

  • If your social security or other tax ID number has been compromised, just about anyone can use that information to file a tax return online. This is because a W-2 is not also included in an online filing, so there is no immediate way to cross reference the information provided.
  • If this happens to you, prior to filing your own return, the IRS will have already processed the fraudulent return and not be made aware of the wrongful act until you file a legitimate return. It was at that time that the duplicate tax ID information will enter the system and the circumstance identified.

 

Having more than one return on file, for the same person, will cause a second refund to be delayed. So, if you are owed, your refund will be held up until the issues are resolved. Identity theft has long been a problem, with thieves stealing identities to get credit cards or to hack into your banking accounts. This new form of identity theft is called “tax identity theft”, and is a growing problem. The IRS recognizes this nuisance, and has taken steps to help those that have experienced it in the past. If you are unfortunate enough to have had this happen to you, the agency will assign you a special PIN for use when filing your return. The hope is that by use of identifying information other than an SSN, repeat attempts to steal your tax ID will be unsuccessful.

 

Let the professionals at Nielsen Law Group help you with all your tax needs. Call (480) 888-7111 or submit a web request here. We can help sort out the problems that result from having your identity stolen, and especially your tax identity.