An official website of the U.S. GovtIn today’s digital age, scams and identity theft are increasingly prevalent, posting significant risks to individuals and businesses.
Inaccurate or misleading tax information is easy to circulate on social media, and the IRS has recently seen several examples of how bad actors are targeting taxpayers via social media channels. Fraudulent form filing and bad advice on social media are part of the IRS annual Dirty Dozen campaign – a list of 12 scams and schemes involving topics such as offering help creating online accounts, donating to fake charities, and claiming refunds and credits such as the Employee Retention Credit, that put taxpayers and the tax professional community at risk of losing money, personal information, data, and more.
Common types of social media schemes involve:
These sources may claim to be tax professionals, but they are not qualified to give tax advice. Unqualified tax return preparers may not follow ethical standards and may engage in fraudulent activities.
Resources
The taxpayer Bill of Rights is grouped into 10 easy to understand categories outlining the taxpayer rights and protections embedded in the tax code.
It is also what guides the advocacy work we do for taxpayers.
