Tax Industry and IRS “Team Up” to Fight Identity Theft Fraud

Under a new agreement called “a sweeping new collaborative effort”, tax software vendors and the IRS will team up to fight identity theft refund fraud.  This agreement will have the IRS, tax preparation and software firms, payroll and tax financial product processors, and state tax administrators collaborate to identify new steps to validate taxpayer and tax return information at the time of filing. It was found that the ability to answer knowledge-based authentication questions about taxpayers financial dealings, such as car or mortgage payments, was the reason cyber-criminals successfully breached the “Get Transcript” application system.  For more information please read the complete Journal of Accountancy article.