Tax On Wheels, LLC received the following message from the South Carolina Department of Revenue and we pass it along for your consideration.
Tax Professionals: Encourage Electronic Filing This Tax Season
The South Carolina Department of Revenue places the highest priority on safeguarding taxpayer information entrusted to it by all taxpayers. The electronic filing of tax returns with the Department has always been, and will remain, a safe, secure and efficient means of filing.
In light of the recent computer security breach, it is important to note that no data was lost in the transmission of tax information upon submission to or from the Department. Confidential information that was stored on the Department’s computer servers was hacked into and then stolen in a criminal act.
Since this incident, measures have been taken to heighten the protection of confidential data so as to avoid future security compromises, and upon recommendations from cyber-security experts, additional security safeguards have been implemented and will continue to be further established in the future.
Taxpayers are safe and secure in filing their state tax returns electronically as it is the most efficient means of filing for taxpayers. As tax professionals, you are aware that with electronic filing comes many advantages for the taxpayer including receiving a refund in a shorter amount of time as well as less opportunity for errors.
Throughout the individual income tax filing season, information will be provided to the public as it is available. Our goal is to keep taxpayers informed and aware of any helpful information regarding the filing of tax returns and ensure to the public that filing electronically with the Department is secure. Current information that may be useful throughout the individual income tax season is available online at www.sctax.org under the “Individual Income” link.
It would appear that the South Carolina Department of Revenue has reconstituted its efforts at arresting those who seem to struggle with following state tax law. You may recall that the SCDOR was on a bit of a roll locking up tax cheats up until the recent unpleasantness regarding data hacking of private taxpayer information. Apparently the SCDOR is no longer distracted and has returned to keeping the streets safe from tax scofflaws. Their latest press release follows.
Columbia, SC (February 8, 2013) — Tracy Renay Williams was arrested today by investigators from the SC Department of Revenue for 12 counts of tax related charges.
Williams, 35, is charged with four counts of forgery, four counts of assisting in the preparation of a fraudulent tax return, and four counts of conspiracy; he is currently being held at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center in Conway awaiting a bond hearing.
For the 2011 tax year, Williams provided fraudulent W2 forms to individuals in order to have income tax returns prepared in each of their names. Williams willfully assisted in the preparation of the fraudulent tax returns which resulted in the individuals requesting tax refunds totaling over $32,000, to which they were not entitled.
Williams, a Green Sea resident, could face up to 60 years in prison and/or up to $22,000 in fines if convicted of the 12 charges.
This is the latest arrest by the SC Department of Revenue in part of an ongoing investigation in the Horry County area. A string of other arrests have previously occurred in relation to the investigation, and more arrests are expected.
WASHINGTON – Continuing a year-long enforcement push against refund fraud and identity theft, the Internal Revenue Service today announced the results of a massive national sweep in recent weeks targeting identity theft suspects in 32 states and Puerto Rico, which involved 215 cities and surrounding areas.
The coast-to-coast effort against 389 identity theft suspects led to 734 enforcement actions in January, including indictments, informations, complaints and arrests. The effort comes on top of a growing identity theft effort that led to 2,400 other enforcement actions against identity thieves during fiscal year 2012.
The January crackdown, a joint effort with the Department of Justice and local U.S. Attorneys offices, unfolded as the IRS opened the 2013 tax season. IRS Criminal Investigation expanded its efforts during January, pushing the total number of identity theft investigations to more than 1,460 since the start of the federal 2012 fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2011.
“As tax season begins this year, we want to be clear that there is a heavy price to pay for perpetrators of refund fraud and identity theft,” said IRS Acting Commissioner Steven T. Miller. “We have aggressively stepped up our efforts to pursue and prevent refund fraud and identity theft, and we will continue to intensely focus on this area. This is part of a much wider effort underway for the 2013 tax season to stop fraud.”
The national effort with the Justice Department and other federal, state and local agencies is part of a larger, comprehensive identity theft strategy the IRS has embarked on that is focused on preventing, detecting and resolving identity theft cases as soon as possible.
The identity theft effort – which intensified in January as the 2013 filing season opened – involved 734 enforcement actions related to identity theft and refund fraud. The effort led to actions taking place throughout the country involving 389 individuals. The effort included 109 arrests, 189 indictments, informations and complaints, as well as 47 search warrants.
In addition to the criminal actions, IRS auditors and criminal investigators conducted a special compliance effort starting on Jan. 28 to visit 197 money service businesses to help make sure these businesses are not assisting identity theft or refund fraud when they cash checks. The compliance visits occurred in 17 high-risk places identified by the IRS covering areas in and surrounding New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Tampa, Miami, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, El Paso, Tucson, Birmingham, Detroit, San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose.
A map of the locations and additional details on the January enforcement actions and compliance visits are available on IRS.gov. The latest updates on the identity theft enforcement efforts and individual cases are available on a special Identity Theft Schemes page on IRS.gov. More information on enforcement actions can be found on a DOJ Tax Division page.
The identity theft push over the last several weeks reflects a wider effort underway at the IRS. Among the highlights:
More information on IRS Criminal Investigation efforts is available on IRS fact sheet FS-2013-12.
In addition to the national “sweeps” effort announced today, IRS work on identity theft and refund fraud continues to grow. For the 2013 filing season, the IRS has expanded these efforts to better protect taxpayers and help victims.
To stop identity thieves up front, the IRS has made a significant increase for the 2013 tax season in the number and quality of identity theft screening filters that spot fraudulent tax returns before refunds are issued. The IRS has dozens of identity theft screens now in place to protect tax refunds.
These efforts helped the IRS in 2012 protect $20 billion of fraudulent refunds, including those related to identity theft, compared with $14 billion in 2011.
By late 2012, the IRS assigned more than 3,000 IRS employees — over double from 2011 — to work on identity theft-related issues. IRS employees are working to prevent refund fraud, investigate identity theft-related crimes and help taxpayers who have been victimized by identity thieves. In addition, the IRS has trained 35,000 employees who work with taxpayers to recognize identity theft indicators and help people victimized by identity theft.
“We are strengthening our processing systems to watch for identity theft and detect refund fraud before it occurs,” Miller said. “And we continue to put more resources on helping people who are victims of identity theft and resolve these complex cases as quickly as possible.”
Taxpayers can encounter identity theft involving their tax returns in several ways. One instance is where identity thieves try filing fraudulent refund claims using another person’s identifying information, which has been stolen. Innocent taxpayers are victimized because their refunds are delayed.
To help taxpayers, the IRS has a special section on IRS.gov dedicated to identity theft issues, including YouTube videos, tips for taxpayers and a special guide to assistance. For victims, the information includes how to contact the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit. For other taxpayers, there are tips on how taxpayers can protect themselves against identity theft.
If a taxpayer receives a notice from the IRS indicating identity theft, they should follow the instructions in that notice. A taxpayer who believes they are at risk of identity theft due to lost or stolen personal information should contact the IRS immediately so the agency can take action to secure their tax account. The taxpayer should contact the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 800-908-4490. The taxpayer will be asked to complete the IRS Identity Theft Affidavit, Form 14039, and follow the instructions on the back of the form based on their situation.
Taxpayers looking for additional information can consult the special identity protection page on IRS.gov. You may also contact Tax On Wheels, LLC at 803 732-4288.
This item was originally posted on November 23, 2012. As we enter tax season this has become a popular topic once again and we are re-posting this for your convenience.
It took a couple of weeks for the public to be notified of the theft of South Carolina tax information and a couple more weeks for useful information to begin to trickle out. With that as the foundation of this issue it is apparent that speed is not going to save the day. So there really is no need to get into a panic and rush through anything. For those of us who have had our tax information stolen this will be a race of endurance, perhaps a lifelong struggle to secure our identity.
The SCDOR cyber theft heralds the end of a world where there is even a semblance of privacy. If it ever did exist, privacy is certainly a thing of the past. South Carolina is simply the biggest fish to get caught so far. Even before the SCDOR hacking was announced to the public, a major insurance company contacted authorities regarding the theft of several thousand social security numbers in a similar cyber theft incident. Folks, we are simply not in Kansas anymore.
Before we provide our list of recommended actions to protect yourself from these crimes, I would like to ask you a few questions.
While you are chewing on that let’s explore the grassy knoll a bit more and list a few things that I think you can do to protect yourself not only from the criminals working outside the system but also from the fine upstanding corporations who trade our identities like so many marbles after school at the neighborhood playground.
This list is still evolving and may grow as we find new information so check back often.
If you need assistance with the issues raised in this post please feel free to contact Tax On Wheels, LLC at 803 732-4288.
A few months have now past since the big hacking incident at the South Carolina Department of Revenue revealed the social security numbers of millions of South Carolina taxpayers. While many of us were intently focused on this issue from day one, many others actually have a life and may have missed a few beats.
South Carolina ETV conducted a recap of sorts during an episode of their weekly program “The Big Picture” hosted by Charles Beirbauer. This program was broadcast shortly after this incident came to public attention. So if you feel that you need a bit of a refresher on the details of the hacking incident as we begin tax season, or if you want to gather information on protecting yourself from identity theft, you may want to view the archived broadcast here.
On Friday January 18, 2013, the US District Court for the district of Columbia, struck down the position that the IRS has the authority to regulate tax preparers.
What this apparently means is that the IRS will not be able to regulate practice before the IRS by so called unenrolled preparers (anyone who is not a CPA, Enrolled Agent or Attorney). Unless the IRS appeals the decision and prevails or finds some alternative method of regulating the preparation of tax returns we should probably prepare ourselves for the return of the crooks.
It hasn’t been that long ago that we had the proliferation of fly by night tax return places popping up like mushrooms after a spring rain anywhere a sufficient quantity suckers could be found. When tax season was over they were gone and any problems were the sole responsibility of the tax payer who was left holding the bag.
Many of us in the tax preparation industry had hoped that this industry could be infused with more professionalism and we were glad to see the IRS implementing the fairly limited requirements upon anyone who held themselves out to be tax preparers. Everyone here at Tax On Wheels, LLC still hopes the IRS will be able to bring some order and sanity to this process. But in the mean time the public should probably be prepared for any idiot who can get their hands on a copy of TurboTax to set up shop in a strip mall near you. Let the buyer beware!
You may contact Tax On Wheels, LLC at 803 732-4288 if you have questions about this post.
Columbia, SC (January 15, 2013) — The South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) is joining the South Carolina State Library and the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs (SCDCA) to provide taxpayers with informational material on minimizing the possibility of identity theft.
Available to all South Carolina taxpayers, the series of webinars held January 16, 17 and 18 titled The Truth About Identity Protection will address taxpayers’ concerns regarding security breaches, credit reports, and enrolling in credit monitoring services. Staff members from SCDOR, the State Library, and SCDCA will provide webinar attendees with detailed information and will also answer questions and address concerns during this online session.
It is encouraged that libraries, companies, and organizations offer sessions to staff members or the public by showing the webinar in a meeting room or computer lab. Individuals can also participate from home via the Internet. To register, visit the South Carolina State Library’s calendar of events or select from the dates below.
January 18, 2013 10:00-11:30am
Please contact Tax On Wheels, LLC at 803 732-4288 if you need assistance with this subject.
Columbia, SC (January 11, 2013) — Investigators with the South Carolina Department of Revenue have arrested 18 individuals this week in an ongoing investigation targeting those who claim to be exempt from taxation with their employers and fail to file required state income tax returns.
Those arrested in the investigation filed W4 forms with their employers claiming to be exempt from taxation which caused little to no taxes to be withheld from their paychecks. Those same employees failed to file tax returns for multiple years.
This statewide investigation resulted in charges of tax evasion against 18 individuals from the low country, midlands and upstate. The 18 individuals collectively earned over $6 million during the period of investigation and have a collective state tax liability of nearly $285,000.
The individuals arrested are as follows:
Each charge of tax evasion carries a possible sentence of up to five (5) years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine. These cases will be forwarded to the Attorney General’s office for prosecution.
Assisting in the arrests include the Richland County Sheriff’s Fugitive Task Force, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Fugitive Task Force, and the Greenville County Sheriff’s Department. Further arrests are expected as this investigation is ongoing.
The South Carolina Department of Revenue has begun sending out letters notifying taxpayers about the theft of social security numbers and other information. The letters confirm that only electronic filers are affected. Taxpayers who have already signed up for the state provided identity theft protection are supposed to be notified by email.
Click here to review the details surrounding this issue and click here to read our recommended action list to help protect yourself from the risk of identity theft. Or feel free to contact Tax On Wheels, LLC at 803 732-4288 if we may assist you with this issue.
In light of the debacle at the South Carolina Department of Revenue where confidential information for millions of taxpayers, including social security numbers, was stolen, credit monitoring has been a hot topic of discussion. The state has paid for one year of credit monitoring through Experian for everyone affected. But what happens when that year runs out. There has been talk of the state possibly paying for a second year of credit monitoring for everyone but it is expected that everyone will pretty much be on their own when the year (or two) expires.
It turns out that there are free resources available for people who are unable (or refuse) to pay for credit monitoring. This New York Times article provides details on free online services that may be a cost free alternative to paying for credit monitoring.
We have not reviewed or used these services nor do we recommend this or any other credit monitoring service. We are simply providing information about available resources which you may find helpful. As with any, online service, please make sure you check it out carefully and know the details before you sign up.
Please be sure to give Tax On Wheels, LLC a call at 803 732-4288 if you have questions about this or any other tax issue.