FRAUD ALERT: Avoid Tax Return Scams!

Fraudulent tax return preparers are back!

Tips On How To Avoid Fraudulent Tax Preparers

With this being tax season, the Federal Justice Department urges the public to look out for and avoid fraudulent tax preparers who illegally swindle both their clients and the federal treasury.  Below are some tips that may seem obvious and others that may not seem so obvious.

  1. Look for a PTIN.  The IRS requires that all paid tax preparers register with the IRS and obtain a preparer tax identification number (PTIN).
  2. Never allow your refund to be deposited directly into a tax preparer’s bank account.  Courts have barred such a practice.
  3. Never sign a blank return or a return without fully reading it from beginning to end first.
  4. Never allow your tax preparer to mischaracterize expenses.  By this, I mean that you should never allow personal purchases to be wrongly characterized as deductible expenses.
  5. Never allow your tax preparer to fabricate expenses or deductions.  
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