Don't Be Afraid

A recurring theme that you may notice here is tax scams and IRS impersonators.  I believe being scammed and being contacted by the IRS are two of the biggest fears people have when it comes to their money.  An important point to remember if you ever receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS is that you don't have to take any action on that phone call as far as giving out your personal information such as social security number, bank information or credit card information.  You can call the IRS at their published number on IRS.gov and find out if and why you were previously contacted.  The same applies if you receive an email claiming to be from the IRS, simply call their published number to find out if it was a legitimate contact or not.  The IRS has the following consumer alert on their website:

Note the IRS will never:

• Call to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method such as a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer.  Generally, the IRS will first mail you a bill if you owe any taxes.
• Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.
• Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
• Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.

To be taken the IRS website, click here.

UPDATE:  Right on cue, the IRS issued a new warning of a scam related to payments to the EFTPS and use of a debit card.  To get the details on this new scam, click here.