Social Security Numbers
Identity thieves have created a new line of business – sellingyour social security number. Who would want to buy it? The listis surprising long, but undocumented workers, individuals withbad credit and people trying to obtain a new identity lead thelist. This can create a huge problem for you since any incomepaid to those individuals is reported to the IRS as being paidto you. This results in the IRS having inflated income numbersand, often, audits when you “under report” your income.
With the creation of the Real ID Act, better known as theNational ID Card, things will only get worse. Under the Act, allworkers will be required to submit social security numbers toobtain jobs. With our leaky borders, there will be a high demandfor your social security number.
False Tax Filings
It doesn’t take much to file a tax return. What’s to stop anidentity thief from filing one under your name to generate arefund? Nothing. To generate the maximum refund, you can be allkinds of frivolous deductions will be claimed. After all, itwill be you that has to attend the audit.
What Can I Do?
If you receive a notice from the IRS that leads you to believesomeone may have used your Social Security Number fraudulently,you should notify the IRS immediately. Indicators can be foundin notices from the IRS that state:
1. More than one tax return for you was filed, or
2. IRS records indicate you received wages from an employerunknown to you.
Don’t hesitate or be nervous about contacting the IRS. Theagency knows this is a growing problem and not an “opportunity”to pound on taxpayers.
About the author:Richard A. Chapo is with http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com -Stop overpaying small business taxes. Visithttp://www.businesstaxrecovery.com/articles to read morebusiness tax articles about tax relief and tax help.
