Drake Software blog for tax pros, covering tax, IRS news, and more
Some cybercrime doesn’t even take the effort of a hack to make a payday. It’s as easy as shopping online. Computer security journalist Brian Krebs says would-be fraudsters have only to visit an online shop that offers buyers SSNs, stolen credit card numbers and stolen W-2 data on real people.…
Read more about Identity Thieves Have Gone to the Dark Side of the Net
During the 2016 tax season the IRS and tax preparers alike saw a big spike in phishing and malware incidents. Unfortunately, the 2017 season is shaping up to be more of the same. In fact, the Internal Revenue Service has included these phishing schemes to its “Dirty Dozen” list of the worst tax scams.…
Read more about Phishing the Threat of Choice of Identity Thieves
Identity thieves are widening their email scams in the latest attempt to steal personal and financial information. The Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies and tax professionals have issued an urgent alert that the scammers are now targeting school districts, businesses (such as chain restaurants), tribal organizations and nonprofits.…
Read more about Scammers Expanding Their W-2 Phishing Effort
The good news is the GAO found taxpayers calling the IRS received better service during the 2016 filing season. However, the study also determined that during the regular 2016 calendar year, information that could help alert taxpayers they were victims of identity theft was hard to obtain, either from www.irs.gov or through IRS customer service.…
Read more about GAO Cites IRS Shortcomings on Identity Theft
The Internal Revenue Service yesterday released a list of five common tax season myths, as well as links to YouTube videos that explain when refunds will arrive, claiming the EITC or ACTC, and more. Newswire release IR-2017-16 aims to reduce misinformation.…
Read more about Refund Myths: Sorting Truth from Fiction During Tax Season
The Earned Income Tax Credit is fairly well-known to be aimed at workers who don’t earn a lot of money in their jobs and who may be supporting a family. This year the EITC salary ceiling is $53,505,…
Read more about Special EITC Rules May Help Taxpayers with Disabilities
An email scam is making the rounds for a second time, attempting to trick company payroll or human resource departments into sending employee information that can be used to file bogus tax returns.The…
Read more about Crooks Unleash Spoofing Campaign for Second Time
The Internal Revenue Service is sending a reminder to some tax preparers, reminding them that the Earned Income Tax Credit claimed in one of their returns was missing needed due diligence.…
As you know, tax preparation these days is all about the data. There’s your data – e-Services logins, tax software and business data; and there’s client data – the bits and pieces we put together to make a successful income tax return.…
Taxpayers who have a state income tax refund coming will have to be more patient than in previous years. A number of states have put delays into their refund processes to give them more time to validate return information.…
