Signs of a Scam:
The IRS (and its authorized private collection agencies) will never:
- Call to demand immediate
payment using a specific payment method such as a prepaid debit card, gift
card or wire transfer. The IRS does not use these methods for tax
payments. Generally, the IRS will first mail a bill to any taxpayer who
owes taxes. All tax payments should only be made payable to the U.S.
Treasury and checks should never be made payable to third parties.
- Threaten to immediately
bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have the taxpayer
arrested for not paying.
- Demand that taxes be
paid without giving the taxpayer the opportunity to question or appeal the
amount owed.
- Ask for credit or debit
card numbers over the phone.
For anyone who doesn’t owe taxes and has no reason to think they do:
- Do not give out any
information. Hang up immediately.
- Contact the Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration to report the call. Use their IRS
Impersonation Scam Reporting web page. Alternatively, call
800-366-4484.
- Report it to the Federal
Trade Commission. Use the FTC
Complaint Assistant on FTC.gov. Please add "IRS Telephone
Scam" in the notes.
For anyone who owes tax or thinks they do:
The IRS does not use email, text messages or
social media to discuss personal tax issues, such as those involving bills or
refunds. For more information, visit the “Tax
Scams and Consumer Alerts”
Source: Internal Revenue Service
contact@officetaxservices.com
(858)247-1680
The online
account allows individual taxpayers to access the latest information
available about their federal tax account through a secure and convenient tool
on IRS.gov. When it first launched in December
2016, the tool assisted taxpayers with basic account inquiries such as
information about their balance due and access to the various IRS payment
options. Since then, the IRS has added new features allowing taxpayers to:
- View up to 18 months of
tax payment history
- View payoff amounts and
tax balance due for each tax year
- Obtain online
transcripts of various Form 1040-series through Get Transcript
- Give feedback on their
experience with their online account and make suggestions for improvements
Before accessing the tool, taxpayers must authenticate their identities
through the rigorous Secure Access process. This is a two-step authentication
process, which means returning users must have their credentials (username and
password) plus a security code sent as a text to their mobile phones.
Taxpayers who have registered using Secure Access for Get Transcript Online
or Get an IP PIN may use their same username and password. To register for the
first time, taxpayers must have their personal and financial information
including: Social Security number, specific financial information, such as a
credit card number or loan numbers, email address and a text-enabled mobile
phone in the user's name. Taxpayers may review the Secure
Access process prior to starting registration.
As part of the security process to authenticate taxpayers, the IRS will send
verification, activation or security codes via email and text. The IRS warns
taxpayers that it will not initiate contact via text or email asking for log-in
information or personal data. The IRS texts and emails will only contain
one-time codes.
Source: Internal Revenue Service
contact@officetaxservices.com
(858)247-1680
Starting
this year, the deadline for filing the annual Report of Foreign Bank and
Financial Accounts (FBAR) is now the same as
for a federal income tax return. This means that the 2016 FBAR, Form 114, was
normally required to be filed electronically with the Financial Crimes
Enforcement Network (FinCEN) by April 18, 2017. But FinCEN is granting filers
missing the original deadline an automatic extension until Oct. 16, 2017
to file the FBAR. Specific extension requests are not required. In the past,
the FBAR deadline was June 30 and no extensions were available. In general, the
FBAR filing requirement applies to anyone who had an interest in, or signature
or other authority, over foreign financial accounts whose aggregate value
exceeded $10,000 at any time during 2016. Because of this threshold, the IRS
encourages taxpayers with foreign assets, even relatively small ones, to check
if this filing requirement applies to them. The form is only available through
the BSA E-filing System
website. Report in
U.S. Dollars Any income received or deductible expenses paid in
foreign currency must be reported on a U.S. tax return in U.S. dollars.
Likewise, any tax payments must be made in U.S. dollars.
Both Forms
114 and 8938 require the use of a Dec. 31 exchange rate for all transactions,
regardless of the actual exchange rate on the date of the transaction.
Generally, the IRS accepts any posted exchange rate that is used consistently.
For more information on exchange rates, see Foreign Currency
and Currency Exchange Rates.
Source: Internal Revenue Service
contact@officetaxservices.com
(858)247-1680
