Everything that You Need to Know About Tax Return Identity Theft

by Accounting ED AccountingEd is a provider of continuing education

Tax return identify fraud takes place when an unauthorized individual or organization uses the stolen security number of another individual for filing a tax return claiming fraudulent refund. The individual who is the victim of this theft might not be aware of this happening until he or she files their return and discover that a return has already been filed by making use of their SSM. Also, the IRS might send a letter to the individual saying that they have identified a kind of suspicious return using the SSN of that particular individual.

Knowing the Warning Signs

It is important for individuals to be fully alert about possible tax-related identity theft if they seem to be contacted by the IRS. Some warning signs to watch out for include:

· You are owing additional tax or refund offset

· More than one tax return has been filed using your Social Security Number.

· Records maintained by IRS indicate that you have obtained income from an employer or your wages for a time span when you might not have worked.

If you think that you have been the victim of tax return identity theft, it is important for you to continue paying your taxes and filing your tax return through paper.

Important Steps that Need to be Taken

If you have been the victim of tax related identity theft then there are some important steps that you need to follow. The steps are as under:

· File a complaint with associated authorities

· Immediately contact any of the three credit bureaus for placing a fraud alert on credit records.

· Get in touch with your financial organization and immediately close all your credit or financial accounts opened without permission or the ones tampered by the identity thieves.

There are some additional steps recommended by the IRS for victims of compromised SSN.

Taxes and Data Breaches

It is important to note that not all tax related identity theft result from computer hacks and data breaches. It is important for individuals to have a clear understanding of the type of personal information that was stolen. In order to avoid such circumstances, it becomes important for individuals to have an intro to fraud. This can specifically be done that going through courses on the same available from a NASBA registered academy.

This is the right sphere in which continuing professional education credit come in. if you have tried delving into the requirements of continuing education in the field of tax return thefts and other issues then it is important that you make the choice of the right source for your training. There are many organizations that offer this kind of training along with elaborate guides on becoming professionals in the same field. Nowadays, this kind of training has gained huge momentum depending on the fear that people have regarding their tax returns and the thefts associated with the same. Therefore, getting in touch with the right sources and having a very clear understanding have become important prerequisites for both professionals and the common men.