News / Article

IRS Imposes New Limits On Tax Refunds By Direct Deposit

Source: forbes.com - Aug 11, 2014

While taxpayers were popping returns into the mail this year, scammers were busy trying to figure out how to cash in. The Internal Revenue Service reported that, by Tax Day, they were investigating 1,800 active cases of identity theft investigations. Many of those cases involved millions of dollars each: just recently, a New York woman pleaded guilty for her part in a $65 million stolen identity tax refund fraud scheme.

The IRS has long walked a balance between trying to prevent fraud and issuing refunds to taxpayers in a timely manner. Taxpayers who file electronically and use direct deposit can get refunds in an average of 10 work days. That’s good news for taxpayers but even better news for fraudsters who hope to use the accelerated refund procedures to sneak in bogus claims. Putting the brakes on those refunds for fraudsters can, in some cases, slow down refunds for honest taxpayers. Finding ways to get refunds into the hands of honest taxpayers without increasing the opportunity for fraud has been difficult.

The IRS is introducing new procedures in 2015 which could help address some of these issues.

TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK ON SOURCE LINK ABOVE

Category: IRS

Comments