This article was originally published on CUInsight
Last month, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced 2020 federal income tax filing deadlines for individuals would be extended from April 15 to May 17 in response to the ongoing recovery efforts surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and to help provide taxpayers some ongoing relief.
In the midst of a busy tax season, it’s important to be reminded that with the flurry of tax deadlines comes the increase of fraud attempts and tax scams. Annually, the IRS shares and emphasizes certain ‘aggressive and evolving schemes’ that may be at particular risk to taxpayers. This year, schemes related to coronavirus tax relief continue to be a burden that target taxpayers.
By raising awareness, credit unions can help inform and protect their members. Since tax scams are a particular threat this time of year, it is especially important that your members know how to protect themselves from these prevalent attacks. Especially as extensions can create some confusion and make members more susceptible to fraud attempts.
What do these scams look like?
Tax scams continue to evolve as scammers find new, creative ways to defraud taxpayers. Unfortunately, attempts have only increased with COVID-19 recovery and stimulus relief as fraudsters prey on challenging times to exploit others. The IRS recently listed the following as different tax scams that pose major threats and are important to be aware of in this 2021 tax season.
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