Though tax time maybe once a year, tax scams occur throughout. Tax scams are run by criminals posing as the IRS, with the goal of either collecting information or money from you. Luckily, most of the common tax scams are fairly easy to avoid. Here's what you need to know.
1. See Through the Scam
One of the major ways you can identify a tax scam is by phone call. The IRS does not call you. The IRS only communicates by mail; it does not communicate by email or any other method, except in rare circumstances such as faxing in a form and having it faxed back.
Common scams involve a scam artist calling you and saying that you owe a certain amount of taxes. From there, they will say that you need to make a payment to them right away or you will suffer from a lien against your home. The IRS will never ask you for an immediate payment in this way.
2. Contact the IRS Directly About Any Debts
If you do owe money to the IRS, you can always log into the IRS website, IRS.gov. This is the official government website for the IRS and provides a significant amount of information regarding your tax payments and your debts.
On the IRS website, you should be able to see all your tax filings, your payments, anything that you still owe, and any payment plans that you're currently working on. From there, you can enter in payments in a safe way, or find the address to make payments securely.
3. Understand That If You Get an Adjustment Letter, it May Be Legitimate
Once you've filed your taxes, the IRS will often adjust it. They may find that you owe money because of your health insurance, or that you failed to report a 1099 that they received. This usually doesn't result in an audit. Instead, the IRS just sends you a note saying that you owe a little more. This will come with an envelope and a payment stub. You can contact the IRS directly to find out whether this is legitimate but it usually is.
IRS scams are often fairly convincing, and they work by telling you that you need to pay immediately or face liens and penalties. Contacting a tax service or a tax accountant like Balkcom Pearsall & Parrish CPA's PA can help you avoid potential issues. Tax services are very savvy to these tax scams and can usually identify them quickly.
