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The IRS and its Security Summit partners say collective efforts to stop tax-related identity theft appear to be working. New statistics show that the number of new people filing affidavits with the IRS claiming they have been victims of identity theft regarding their federal tax returns has dropped more than 50 percent compared to 2015.
Identity thieves typically file fake tax returns seeking refunds. A taxpayer doesn’t know their personal information has been stolen until they file a tax return and are alerted that a refund was already issued. So far in 2016, nearly 238,000 claims of tax-related identity theft have been filed compared to more than 512,000 in the same time period of 2015. Overall, more than 74.5 million individual tax returns were filed in the 2015 tax year. 2016 totals are not yet available.
The IRS credits new systems checks with catching fraudulent returns before they are processed. Through September of this year, the IRS stopped 787,000 confirmed identity theft returns, preventing more than $4 billion in losses from fake refunds.
More banks are also joining the tax fraud fight by using internet-related signals to stop suspect refunds from being auto-deposited, especially refunds with an unusually high dollar amounts. Shared information between state and regional tax offices has improved fraud filters and alerts. New hidden data elements on tax returns filed by professional preparers has also helped detect suspicious returns.
