The IRS releases an official list of IRS Scams to avoid every tax season, when Income Tax Fraud issues become rampant. Here's a review of the top Income Tax Fraud issues the IRS warns about as part of their IRS Scam Help program. Don't trust any IRS Tax Professionals that are guilty of any of these scams.
Phishing- This is a tactic Income Tax Fraud scammers use to trick victims into revealing their personal information. This is usually in the form of an e-mail from "The IRS" requesting financial information. Watch out, this is Income Tax Fraud, the IRS never sends e-mails to personal accounts and never requests personal financial information online.
Offshore Income- Hiding income offshore is a version of Income Tax Fraud that the IRS will not forgive. The IRS is aggressively pursuing those who hide income in offshore bank accounts.
Filing False Forms- Filing false or misleading forms to the IRS counts as Income Tax Fraud and typically involved filing false withholding credits. Many taxpayers and even some IRS tax Professionals will tell you it's okay to overstate deductions or basically lie on your tax returns, but this is Income Tax Fraud. Don't follow bad advice about Filing False Returns.
Fuel Tax Credit Scams- The IRS is receiving claims for the fuel tax credit that are unreasonable. You cannot use this credit for nontaxable uses of fuel when your occupation or income level makes the claim unreasonable. This is considered Income Tax Fraud and can result in a stiff IRS penalty of $5,000. Don't claim this credit improperly, even IRS Tax Professionals urge you to do so.
Choosing the right IRS Tax Professionals to get IRS Scam Help
It's important to choose IRS Tax Professionals whom you trust so you don't wind up with Income Tax Fraud. One way to know whether the IRS tax Professionals you are considering using are trustworthy and can provide IRS Scam help is to check their Better Business Bureau rating.
First, you'll want to make sure the company is a Better Business Bureau accredited business. Then you'll need to check and make sure the company has an A Rating or higher, which proves you're working with a company that can be trusted.