U.S. Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R-TX) made an official request to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Wednesday to immediately address the recent hike in cases of income tax identification theft.
Income tax identification theft is classified as the act of falsifying an income tax return for someone using their Social Security number or Tax Identification Number, and claiming a refund based on the fraudulent filing.
Every year, numerous tax filings are affected by refund fraud. Just last year, nearly $6 billion was dispersed to identity thieves via fraudulent tax filings, and the number of reported cases of such theft is trending upward, according to recent reports. Also troubling is information coming from the office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, indicating that the IRS deliberated for an average of 278 days to resolve each fraudulently impacted account.
“Tax fraud is a growing problem that devastates families and places billions of taxpayer dollars into the hands of criminals,” Burgess said. “The IRS is responsible for maintaining trustworthy stewardship of taxpayer data. If they want to rebuild public trust, the IRS must help Americans feel secure in the belief that they are safeguarding sensitive data and combating theft.”
In a written letter submitted to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, Burgess referenced a significant increase in theft reports from inside his own congressional district and demanded answers from the IRS regarding the efficiency of their fraud investigation procedures.