Keeping Your Information Secure

With the on-going pandemic, the IRS has seen a rise in the number of scams involving the coronavirus and economic impact payments. Here are some guidelines and tips to avoid giving out personal information to people who are not employees of the IRS, to help evade tax scammers:

• The IRS will never initiate contact with you through your email or text message about bills, refunds, or stimulus payments.
• Do not click any links that are sent to you unprovoked by the “IRS”.
• Be wary of any charities that contact you unsolicited by phone, text, email, social media, or even in person. Some will even claim to be working on behalf of the IRS.
  • To know if a charity is legitimate, ask for their EIN number and search for them on irs.gov
• IRS employees will not threaten or surprise you by demanding immediate payment of your tax bill.
• The IRS will not ask for financial information over the phone. You can always call the IRS to verify if you owe any outstanding payments.
• Be careful of what you post on social media. Scammers will use personal information to send emails, texts, and messages impersonating people you may know.
• Fraud against senior citizens is the most common. Be sure that you, or those close to you, have someone they trust handling their finances and taxes.
• Non-English speakers should also be careful to avoid scams. Scammers will call claiming to be the IRS and threaten jail time, deportation, and revocation of a driver’s license.
• Be wary of companies that offer the ability to settle tax debts for low prices. These could often be scams to collect fees from taxpayers who already have debts to pay.
• Scammers will call posing as the IRS and ask you to return money that was recently deposited into your account. A red flag is if they ask for you to send gift cards.
• Be wary of any links sent to you from the IRS, especially if they ask you to pay your taxes in virtual currencies.
• If you are ever unsure of anything, you can always call the IRS to verify information.

North Carolina has seen a rise in scams as well, specifically for LLC’s and Corporations. Be wary of the following:

• The NC Certificate Service contacting you about ordering a NC Secretary of State 2019 Certificate of Existence.
  • The Certificate of Existence is not necessary for the formation process of a business.
  • If you would like one, you can order one directly from the Secretary of State’s office for $15 or less.
• A solicitation from C.P.F.S offering to prepare annual reports for $200+. This company is not associated with the NC Secretary of State.
• A mailing asking you to report your annual minutes. This is not from the NC Secretary of State as it is not required by the state to file minutes or provide stockholder information.
• A FCLD or Filing Labor Compliance Services mailing for a 2019 Certificate of Status
  • This is not a requirement in NC. If you need a Certificate of Existence for business purposes, contact the NC Secretary of State’s office either by phone or online.

Please feel free to call us 704-332-7800 or email Nicole at csc@fisheraccountants.com if you are ever unsure of any IRS, NCDOR, or Secretary of State correspondence. As your advisors, we are happy to review for you and provide our recommendation if any action is needed. 

For further in-depth information visit:

https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2020/jul/tax-scams-irs-dirty-dozen-2020.html?utm_source=mnl:cpald&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20Jul2020

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https://www.sosnc.gov/divisions/business_registration/alerts