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Erin Collins, nationwide taxpayer advocate on the Taxpayer Advocate Service, speaks at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee listening to in Washington, D.C., on Could 19, 2021.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures
There is a pileup of tax id theft instances on the IRS — however the company is engaged on a “vary of enhancements” to hurry up service.
As of April, the company had roughly 500,000 unresolved id theft instances, up from 484,000 instances in September, Nationwide Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins reported final week. Identification theft victims have waited greater than 22 months for decision, plus a number of weeks for refunds.
Tax id theft occurs when criminals use stolen private info to file a fraudulent tax return to say a refund. If a legal information earlier than the taxpayer, the IRS rejects and freezes the second return for investigation.
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The wait has solely grown longer over the previous a number of months. Collins reported in January that id theft victims have been ready 19 months for decision and refunds, which stemmed from Covid-19 shutdowns and pandemic reduction.
These delays have brought about “vital hardship” for taxpayers, particularly decrease earners, she wrote.
Almost 70% of the instances concerned taxpayers with an adjusted gross earnings at or beneath 250% of the federal poverty degree.
“It has been 4 years from the onset of the pandemic, and the IRS’ delays in serving to victims are unconscionable,” Collins wrote final week.
Whereas taxpayer service has improved via the 2024 season, the backlog of id theft instances stays “some of the vital ongoing service gaps,” the IRS stated in a press release.
IRS plans for ‘sooner service’
The IRS stated it is engaged on enhancements to offer “sooner service” to id theft victims, together with extra assets to work instances.
The company additionally plans to evaluation its processes and have interaction with stakeholders to “establish and forestall evolving tax-related id theft threats.”
“Identification theft instances are complicated and take time to resolve,” however elevated funding has higher positioned the company to deal with these instances extra shortly, the IRS stated.
The company on Tuesday warned tax professionals to guard themselves from id theft criminals who might be concentrating on them and their purchasers.
“Safety threats in opposition to tax professionals and their delicate taxpayer info proceed to evolve, and it is important to remain on high of the most recent developments to guard their enterprise and their purchasers,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel stated in a press release on Tuesday.
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