As we approach April 15th, you may want to keep in mind that the crack dealers of old have found a new, safer and considerably more lucrative way to riches. If you pay taxes, it will be your your riches they are taking.
They have moved from alleys and street corners to cyberspace. Millions are being made in identity theft with the intent of using a stolen identity to file a fraudulent tax return and collect a bogus refund. $4 billion was looted from the US Treasury in way back 2011. It could reach $21 billion by 2017. In Miami alone the fraud rate is 645 per 100,000 residents. Despite budget cuts, the IRS had doubled the number of their agents assigned to identity theft and fraudulent claims to over 3,000.
So, try to get your return filed a little earlier this year and beat them to the punch. This way they will get the error message that the return has already been filed instead of you.
You can learn more by going to your library and picking up a copy of the January 13th Business Week or check out this YouTube video posted by the IRS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiAI6QK5wIc
So be sure guard your identity and financial information carefully this tax season. I would also suggest you consider the services of an Enrolled Agent or Certified Public Accountant. These are professionals licensed to practice before the Internal Revenue Service. They have extensive continuing education requirements in not only the mundane technical aspects of the tax code but ethics as well. Interestingly, when all is said and done, their fees can be surprisingly competitive.
Oliver Wendell Holmes is attributed with the quote, "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society". If we're careful in paying our taxes we may do a bit better at hanging on to our civilized society.
