Identity Theft and Refund Fraud
Passard C.

Abstract
There are billions of dollars in fraudulent income tax return claims filed every year due to individual(s) intentionally using someone else’s personal information in order to file a tax return; resulting in identity theft. These scams are on the rise and auditors have concerns that there are billions more that will remain undetected. Taxpayers who have fallen victim to these scams seek answers from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with little direction and months of frustration. Therefore, the taxpayer must remain vigilant, ever maintaining awareness of identity theft, and taking preventative measures to prevent identity theft. The IRS continues modernization efforts to provide the vision of a real-time taxpayer system verses the current looking-back system with the intention of reducing these scams.

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