The IRS announced that the 2016 tax season will begin on January 19th, 2016. Taxpayers can protect themselves against scam artists during the tax season by taking a few precautions. Use the following tips to stay safe during the 2016 tax-filing season.

1. The IRS announced that the 2016 tax
season will begin on January 19th, 2016.
Taxpayers can protect themselves against
scam artists during the tax season by taking
a few precautions. Use the following tips to
stay safe during the 2016 tax-filing season.

2. The IRS phone scam was the
top scam in the IRS’ Dirty
Dozen tax scams for 2015. To
avoid it, taxpayers should note
that if you have not received a
letter or notice from the IRS
regarding an issue with your
taxes, an unexpected
communication is most
probably a scam attack.

3. Scammers are after taxpayers’
personal and financial
information so that they can
file fraudulent tax returns to
pocket huge refunds. Common
ways to extract information are
by calling, texting, or emailing
people while pretending to be
the IRS, a reputed bank, or a
well-known organization.

4. An important part of keeping
your identity safe is to protect
your computer with anti-virus
and firewall software. Tax
scammers send enticing
emails, often using the name
and graphics of the IRS.
These emails may have
attachments containing
malware or lead the taxpayer
to sites designed to collect
their personal information.

5. If you receive a scam call
about back taxes, and you
owe back taxes or think that
you may owe, you can call the
IRS at 1-800-829-1040. On
the other hand, if you don’t
owe taxes, you should report
the Treasury Inspector
General for Tax Administration
(TIGTA) at 1-800-366-4484.