Ep. 41 | Mid-Year IRS Update (Taxpayer SCAMS)
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Speaker 2:Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Teaching Textbook podcast. Today, we're gonna jump into episode 41 and have a look at a midyear update from the IRS. But before we do that, as always, let's take a moment to thank our sponsor. This podcast is brought to you by Legacy Lock.
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Speaker 2:Great episode as always today. We're actually reporting live from or I should say recording live from Taxposium here in San Antonio, Texas. Chris Pacquero, my partner in crime here on the podcast, also known as the cohost, the master of all taxes. I could've come up with a better intro for you, but hey, Chris. How's it going, my man?
Speaker 3:I've been called a lot worse, and I am awesome. Great to be here. Excited about Taxposium this year, and, excited to give everyone a midyear. We're a little past midyear, but midyear update from the IRS as we we'll talk a lot about tax planning, tax strategy here in the teaching tax flow community, but it's also to be it's also important to be very weary of tax schemes, identity theft. And IRS, in my opinion, does a really nice job of warning taxpayers about that.
Speaker 3:I don't expect that most of our subscribers and listeners hit up the IRS website very often. So we'd like to give people an update once in a while on what's been going on, what to what to be thinking about because, unfortunately, there's some there's some bad eggs out there.
Speaker 2:You hear scams in the tax world? No. Believe it or not, I know.
Speaker 3:I know because you would think, who'd who'd wanna pay my taxes for me? But unfortunately, it's the other way around. So
Speaker 2:we I mean, we all love those text messages, right, where you get it and it's like, please call us right away regarding your, you know, your tax. Your you owe us $15,000 at a phone call that's you're going to jail if you don't Bitcoin us $10,000 or set a $250 Amazon gift card. So all those scams aside, what are some of the biggest ones that the IRS has put out? I know though those ones we'll get into a little bit with, we'll call them consumer scams a little bit more on that side. But what's the other ones that that the IRS is not warning us about?
Speaker 3:Well, the IRS reiterates to people, and you could, again, you could check this out on the IRS.gov website. We'll put this link in the show notes. But keep in mind, as a taxpayer, the IRS is not going in. Our buddy, Andrew Pulos, talked about this. The IRS is not gonna email you or text you.
Speaker 3:Okay? They will typically send a letter to you and even some of those and and some of these scammers have gotten very, I'm very talented at making letters look like they're coming from the IRS. So, again, make sure you talk to your tax professional if you think you received that. You're giving them a
Speaker 2:lot of credit calling them talented. Although they are. They have they have a lot of work ethic and dedication. Let's put it that way.
Speaker 3:Yes. Unfortunately, it's for the wrong direction. Exactly. The so the IRS, really is seeing a lot of emails and texts text scams going out. So they had just here during July 21, they sent out a news release, warning taxpayers to be on the lookout for these type of tax scams.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna talk to you about the main tax scams. Of course, there are several of them. But the first one that they are worrying about happens to be related to the old economic impact payment. Now if you remember during the pandemic, the federal government issued a wave of it ended up being three different economic impact payments over the course of two years. These economic impact payments were based on your filing status, dependents, how much, how much your taxable income was.
Speaker 3:And then, unfortunately, for taxpayers and tax professionals, they were reconciled on your tax return. So right now, the the highest volume of email schemes that the IRS are seeing relate are relating to the and they'll you'll get an email that says, quote unquote, third round of economic impact payment status available. So if you see remember, you're not gonna receive an email from the IRS, and if you see anything related to economic impact payments on an email immediately if it's me, I block that I block that emailer and and report it. Mhmm. And I know one thing too, Chris, kind
Speaker 2:of a I I guess this is just from a from a tech a whole tech perspective. The tricky part is too is, like, in a lot of these emails, they're either asking something for it directly if I remember correctly, but there may also just be a link in there. So don't click on any links. If anybody says it from the IRS, just delete it. Get rid of it.
Speaker 2:Completely block it. Do not click on anything on there. Is that still the case?
Speaker 3:That's that's the case. And that third round that I just previously mentioned of economic impact payments, Those went out back in 2021. So this is a two year old, situation. And, and I also would say when you get that email, a lot of times the email looks like it's coming from someone legitimate and and you if you really look at the email address, it's sinister.
Speaker 2:They're legitimate, like, a pain in the beep, you know.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. So in that email scam, what's happening with the economic impact payment is the IRS is or the scammers are encouraging you to to click on that that email link and allegedly fill out an application for, an economic impact payment that you will never get. Right. Please, please be weary of that email scam, per the IRS. And we we talk about one of the laws of teaching tax flows that tax agencies are your involuntary business partner.
Speaker 3:Usually, it's kind of a negative connotation because we're talking about tax planning and strategy, but it can be positive. The IRS is looking out, looking out for its its the taxpayers of services, making sure that that they're not scammed.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. So And even Chris at this event, you know, here again, we're in in San Antonio, little hotter than I'm used to, a little little toasty, but we're in Taxposium, which is put on by NATP. So I'm gonna get this wrong. May it the National Association of Tax Prepares? Professionals.
Speaker 2:Professionals. I can't
Speaker 3:do that. Sorry. You're close. We'll give you a a b plus. Okay.
Speaker 2:You know what? I'll take it. I'll take it. And and what's cool about that too is that there's a lot of y'all's, industry brainpower at this event. So if you happen to hear anybody talk among us, we're literally doing this in a hallway right now, so no guarantees on what you might hear by this.
Speaker 2:But this is, I'm sure, gonna be a hot topic, which I'm sure is every year. Right? So it's I I from a tech and marketing perspective, I don't see this going. This is never gonna stop completely. I think the more tech that gets injected into the world we live in, the more opportunity to ask for this.
Speaker 2:And of course, being in different countries where a lot of these scammers are coming from, it's completely different laws, should we say it, that it's not really worth anybody following up with. It's not like the IRS is gonna go to a different country, not pinpointing any specifically and try to track down this person who's sending out these emails. Likely not gonna happen. Correct?
Speaker 3:Correct. Because the the enforcement costs and logistics of it aren't aren't worth it. So the the other one so there's there's four or five of these, but the next one, we've talked about this on the teaching tax flow podcast, the ERC or some people call it the ERTC, the employee retention tax credit. There are a lot of businesses that are eligible for this tax credit. This came about during the pandemic and it really entails you a business owner amending their payroll tax returns to take a credit for employees that were retained.
Speaker 3:So the statute limitations to to claim that is pretty much running out right now. Right? We're in we're in the third quarter of twenty twenty three, but what the IRS is saying is that there's a significant increase in false ERC claims. There are a lot of fly by nine companies and, again, we talked about this in a previous podcast with our friends at Engineered Tax Service that are just popping out of the order works, that's what we're calling, was calling saying ERC consultants of the United States and we're I mean, I've even received these letters. If you own a business, you probably have received a letter that says, you might be eligible for $27,000 per employee.
Speaker 3:And on our records, you have 10 employees or they'll mail you mail you a fake check for $96,000.
Speaker 2:And it's not. Right? For any any business owner that sounds like it's a legitimate, you know, credit they could get of, say, a hundred, 2, or 3, a thousand dollars, it kinda gets your attention a little bit. Right? So I think a lot of people may be taking that bait wouldn't go off that.
Speaker 3:Yes. And we you know, to mention our buddy Andrew again, the IRS guru, he he thinks and he said and I remember this. Word on the street is that the IRS is going to audit these ERC claims. So, again, it we we had one in our company. It was we retained our employees during the pandemic.
Speaker 3:We were eligible for that credit. There are several people that are eligible that have clients that have taken advantage of it, people like TTF community, but there are some bad eggs out there. So really, really be careful about that employee retention credit. My best advice is to is this. If you're going to claim that credit, assume you're getting audited because the chances are pretty good that you will.
Speaker 3:Great advice. We'll repeat it again. If you take that credit, claim that credit, assume you will be audited. Great advice. Yes.
Speaker 3:Third one. Another, email and text scheme, playing off tax refunds. So what's happening is taxpayers are getting an email or text that says claim your tax refund online. There's been a there's been a a change to your account and it gives people that false sense of, oh, I'm owed some bigger more more refund. Maybe my employer screwed up.
Speaker 3:Maybe I made a payment that I didn't know about. And watch out. Obviously, like we said, the IRS is not gonna text or email you. And a lot of these schemes have misspelled words and improper use of English language. The one IRS mentions, and I'm gonna quote the IRS off their website.
Speaker 3:This is a this is a, a a text someone would have received is we checked an error on the calculation on your tax for the last payment in the amount of $927.22. Folks, typically the IRS routes to the nearest out. In order for us to return the excess payment, you need to create an e fund refund create an e refund after which the funds will be credited to your specific bank. So there are fishing for your bank account. Think about if you have remember the economic impact payments that I just mentioned.
Speaker 3:If you had direct deposit on your tax return the year before the EIPs came out, they automatically directly deposited the EIPs. IRS has that information. Be very, very weary of the quote claim your tax refund online scheme. So though we've got a couple more, but you could imagine John you're a taxpayer. I don't know if you've gotten any text messages emails from I feel like that
Speaker 2:I actually get all the time. The voicemails fortunately have stopped for me but the yeah. The texts are a big one. And and it's kind of going back to a little little bit related to, but a little bit off of this. If anybody's ever gotten, you know, somebody that's trying to buy some we'll go I'll kinda date myself a little bit Craigslist.
Speaker 2:You know, you go to buy something else Craigslist. You might be selling it, you know, a car for 5 or $6,000. Somebody says, hey, I'll I'll give you a 10,000 and then mail me the difference. That's a little bit different but it's kind of the same tactics. Right?
Speaker 2:So people are kind of and we'll call it praying. You know, they're praying on basically the gullibility. I think that's the right word here of just people trusting the IRS as being a credible source where now somebody is now falsifying themselves, falsifying their own identity as that credible source. And some people may not think twice. They might think, oh, you know, why would why would somebody be so stupid to pretend that they're the IRS?
Speaker 2:And then next thing you know, you're you're, you're You're
Speaker 3:in trouble. Exactly. You're in trouble. And what's happening is that these scammers and the IRS again, IRS is is trying to make people aware. They're creating a fake sense of urgency.
Speaker 3:Either, oh, oh my gosh, there's money on the table that I didn't receive and I'm getting ripped off, or, oh no, there I didn't get this refund, or, oh gosh, I'm they're creating this fake problem, for lack of a better term, and then the scheme is trying to help you fix this fake problem. Giving you a call to action to either provide your bank account information or something to that elk. Which is ties into the third item before, the help you fix it text text scheme. So this is strictly a text scheme, that people are getting scammed on and identity thief identity thieves come up with a name on a text message that's sounds kinda like the IRS. So it could be like IRS g o b dash two thousand twenty three or some type of vanity account.
Speaker 3:And they send a variety of messages that say there's a problem with your person's tax return, but don't worry. They can help you fix it. You just have to, click on that text message and put give them your bank information. So, again, to help you fix a text text scheme is number three. And you've mentioned that you've gotten some some crazy texts.
Speaker 3:The last one from the IRS's summer update is the delivery scam service scam at your door. So it's not DoorDash, they're with a pizza or some tacos, which should be great, but earlier in July, the IRS warned taxpayers to be on the lookout, for a new scam mailing, that tries to mislead people into believing they are owed a refund. So this one is not an email. It's not text. It's something that gets mailed to you.
Speaker 3:And the new scheme involves a mailing that arrives in a cardboard envelope from a delivery service that looks like it's coming from IRS. And then and it it the wording says in relation to your unclaimed refund. So that one scares me because they're actually mailing something to you and you've seen a lot of those where it looks like it's coming from something legitimate. And we all know the IRS mail things to you. So it's still the same idea that create a sense of urgency, create a problem that you didn't think you had, and by the way, you can fix it.
Speaker 3:But the letter will typically direct you to put to go to a website and put in your banking information. Awesome. Awesome.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, Chris, for sharing those with us. Again, I'm excited to be here at Taxposium. I am not in your world every single day, so I hope to consume some of your brain powers over this knowledge. And, again, I'm sure this is gonna be a hot topic. Really, the biggest takeaway here is just, I wouldn't even say due diligence, just proceed with caution.
Speaker 2:Everything you do regarding this just proceed with caution. If there is anything that, you know, you're you're in question of like, Chris you had mentioned that last one I think was number four is, you know, now these scammers are potentially getting more in tune with what people are more accustomed to or or believe is is more true and that's, you know, kinda hands on or something more tangible. So if there are any questions, any concerns of that, would the best suggestion, Chris, maybe just be contact your tax professional?
Speaker 3:First step, absolutely contact your tax professional if or even your software provider if you did do it yourself. Also, there there is an email phishing with a ph,phishing@irs.gov is the official they're not IRS email if you suspect there's a scam. And they get hundreds of emails daily.
Speaker 2:Excellent. Excellent. Well, thank you Chris again for sharing those, man. Really appreciate it. IRS, thank you for putting out those warnings to us.
Speaker 2:You know, as taxpayers, we gotta pay enough in taxes. So let's, let's save as much as we can and not give it to somebody else that's trying to rip us off. So thank you again for everybody for joining us here on the Teaching Tax Flow podcast live from tax podium Taxposium twenty three here in San Antonio, Texas out here for this great event. We're gonna leave with some great knowledge. I know Chris is actually gonna be up on stage here in a few days doing a great presentation to a couple hundred people.
Speaker 2:We look forward to that. Maybe we'll snag some pictures of them, you know, maybe track them down to the hallway and, maybe we'll get a little interview with them. I don't know. Maybe maybe you'll sign my t shirt. We'll see how lucky I am.
Speaker 2:Until then, everybody have a fantastic week, and we will see you soon. Hey, everybody. John here from the Teaching Tax Flow team. Thank you as always for joining us on the show. Unfortunately, a lot of you probably are already aware of those scams that are out there with those bad actors, bad characters pretending to be from the IRS because they want your money.
Speaker 2:So, now you're maybe a little bit more aware of them or some of the other ones that are out there or worst case scenario, at least it's top of mind. So, you can be a little bit more aware of it when the time comes that you may unfortunately have one of those in your inbox, in your voicemail, in a text message. So thank you for joining us here. Thank you for the ideas. This one, I believe, we actually had an email from somebody asking if we had any updates from the IRS, hence why we did the show.
Speaker 2:But moving forward, again, as always, send over any thoughts, ideas, show guests, anything you may have in mind for us. And also jump on that defeating taxes. Yeah. Www.defeatingtaxes.com. That's our private Facebook group.
Speaker 2:And let us know some of those crazy stories of the scams that you may have been, I should say, alerted to, from those that are pretending to be from the IRS. So shoot us a message in there. Drop it in. We'll actually probably get on the page and start the conversation so you guys don't even have to. I'm just asking what some of those experiences are.
Speaker 2:So as always, thank you from our whole team. See everybody next week.
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