Fraud continues to be the buzzword in Washington, D.C.
Upon taking office last year, Donald Trump sicced the quasi-official Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on areas it said wasted taxpayer money. During his State of the Union address on Tuesday (Feb. 24) night, 47 declared “war on fraud” and tapped his vice president to head the latest anti-fraud effort.
Such attention to schemes is nothing new for the Internal Revenue Service. For years, the tax agency has been fighting fraudulent tax filings.
But Uncle Sam’s tax collector also doesn’t want to get left behind. So, today the IRS officially boarded the administration’s anti-fraud train by announcing a new web page to make tax fraud and scam reporting easier.
One-step tax fraud reporting: Individuals can confidentially report suspected tax fraud, scams, evasion, or other tax-related illegal activities at IRS.gov’s new report fraud site.
There’s nothing ground-breaking at the site. As noted, the IRS already has pretty well covered tax fraud and scam alerts for decades.
But, notes the IRS, its new web page does consolidate multiple IRS fraud-reporting options into a single, centralized location, making it easier for taxpayers to report suspicious activity.
“Improvements to the IRS fraud reporting system make reporting suspected wrongdoing easier and simpler and will address historic challenges that had prevented the IRS from making maximum use of the referrals it receives,” said IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano in announcing the new site.
If you have information about suspected illegal tax activity, you can submit your tip to the IRS by going directly to its reporting page.
Or, you can simply click the new Report Fraud link in the top navigation bar at the IRS home page. (The red arrow below is my, not the IRS’, addition.)
In addition to helping people report tax fraud and scams, the IRS’ new anti-fraud web page also has links to alert the agency about fake IRS emails or messages, as well as to make complaints about questionable tax return preparer actions.
And if you are a tax identity theft victim, there’s a section on the IRS’ new fraud page to help you report it and get recovery action underway.
More efforts to fight tax fraud planned: The new page, added Bisignano, will enable the IRS to maximize taxpayers’ “important role in uncovering fraud and supporting the integrity of the nation’s tax system.”
And, says the IRS, the addition to IRS.gov is just a first step in upgrading the agency’s fraud reporting process.
Over the longer term, the IRS says it plans to streamline fraud reporting by reducing forms, automating processes, and using modern case management software.
You also might find these items of interest:
- Social media tax scammers have cost duped taxpayers $162 million in IRS penalties
- Holiday ID theft scams can linger into tax season, leading to fake filings for fraudulent refunds
- ID theft protection tips in wake of whistleblower’s report on DOGE Social Security data collection
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