The IRS has a new secure service for paying your individual tax bill or estimated taxes directly from your checking or savings account at no cost to you.  You'll receive instant confirmation that your payment has been submitted.  Your bank account information is not retained in the IRS systems but is a one-time use.  Once you use the Direct Pay service, you can use the "Look Up a Payment" feature to view your payment details and status.  You can also modify or cancel your payment up to two business days before your payment date.

IRS Direct Pay

 The latest scam being reported by the IRS Criminal Investigation office involves a fraudster posing as the CEO of a company and calling to request that an employee provide all their current year W2 information.  Please make sure that you do not give out such information to an unconfirmed source.  In addition, one of my clients received a notice that, at first glance, appeared to be from the IRS but, upon further review, showed signs of being faked.  If you are not sure about any notice you receive, feel free to send it to me for verification.  Are you being careful with your information? 

• DO NOT give out personal  data over the phone just because they say they are the IRS, some other important source, or will call the police. 
• The IRS NEVER requests any data via e-mail (phishing).  Email is not secure which is why I direct all my clients to use my File Uploads site when sending tax documents to me electronically. 
• And are you aware of the number of unscrupulous tax preparers out there?!?  If you check up on me, you will find that I am listed as a "Registered Tax Return Preparer" on irs.gov but A LOT of preparers are not.
• Check out the IRS Tax Scams Consumer Alerts

Read more about the dirty dozen and identity protection on irs.gov.

 

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