The Internal Revenue Service and its Security Summit partners are warning taxpayers and tax professionals of fake IRS tax bills related to the Affordable Care Act.
The IRS has received numerous reports of scammers sending a fraudulent version of a notice- labeled CP2000 – for tax year 2015. The issue has been reported to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for investigation.
This scam may arrive by email, as an attachment, or by mail. It has many signs of being a fake:
•The CP2000 notices appear to be issued from an Austin, Texas, address;
•The letter says the issue is related to the Affordable Care Act and requests information regarding 2014 coverage;
•The payment voucher lists the letter number as 105C;
•Requests checks made out to I.R.S. and sent to the “Austin Processing Center” at a post office box.
An authentic CP2000 notice is used when income reported from third-party sources such as an employer does not match the income reported on the tax return. Unlike the fake, it provides extensive instructions to taxpayers about what to do if they agree or disagree that additional tax is owed. A real notice requests that checks be made out to “United States Treasury.”
IRS impersonation scams take many forms: threatening phone calls, phishing emails and demanding letters. The IRS does not initiate unsolicited email contact or contact by social media. The IRS and its’ partners are conducting a campaign to raise awareness among taxpayer and tax professionals about increasing their security and becoming familiar with various tax-related scams, in order to avoid victimization. For more information go to IRS.gov, or look up Taxes, Security, Together.
*IRS Special Edition Tax Tips, Sept.23, 2016
As the Volunteer Income Tax Program Coordinator here at Capstone Community Action, I receive notices all year about tax issues that will affect our community. I hope these articles can help us all to keep up with some of the changes and therefore, have a better tax experience. If you need more information about these tax subjects, or others, let me know at lsudhoff@capstonevt.org. – Laura Sudhoff
