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Law enforcement officials designate identity theft as the fastest growing crime in the world. New tax-related fraud prevention steps are set to kick in for the 2017 tax season.
New or expanded tax-related identity theft features protecting taxpayers in 2017 include:
*37 new data elements that authenticate electronically transmitted individual tax returns
*32 new data elements that authenticate electronically transmitted business tax returns
*designation of what’s called “ultimate bank accounts” to ensure the refunds are deposited into a taxpayer’s real bank account
*the 16-digit Form W-2 Verification Code that will now be added to 50 millionW-2 forms to validate the information
*additional and more elaborate password requirements for software used by individuals and tax preparation experts that will both protect personal information and prevent multiple filings under the same Social Security number
More information resources will also be shared between federal, state and local tax authorities regarding identity-theft tax fraud. This is expected to not only help with early fraud detection, but also uncover trends that can more quickly uncover more complicated schemes that may affect a large number of taxpayers all at once.
Click here to find out more about the tax-related identity theft fraud prevention campaign called “Taxes. Security. Together.”
