It's Tax Time and BBB's Here To Help

Most of us have questions about the tax filing process and trying to get qualified help can be extremely frustrating.

Better Business Bureau Serving Metro Atlanta, Athens & Northeast Georgia has a webpage that will hopefully help with many of the tax questions consumer’s face. No, it won’t answer all your questions or make you a tax expert but it will provide you with some valuable resources that might help ease the process.

The webpage will allow consumers to search our Accredited Business Directory for an Accredited Tax Return Preparer, search for Certified Public Accountants and learn what basic credits and deductions are available. We’ve also provided a page for IRS Resources.

It goes without saying that along with tax season also comes those dreaded attempts for people to scam you. BBB has tips to help consumers stay on the lookout for the latest and oldest scams . Don’t assume you know all the possible scams out there. Take some time to refresh your memory with these scams so you know how to protect yourself.

IRS-Impersonation Phone Scam:

An aggressive and sophisticated phone scam. Callers claim to be employees of the IRS, but are not. These con artists can sound convincing when they call. They use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. They may know a lot about their targets, and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling.

Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. In many cases, the caller becomes hostile and insulting.

Or, victims may be told they have a refund due to try to trick them into sharing private information.

Email Phishing Scam:

The emails appear to be from the IRS and include a link to a bogus web site intended to mirror the official IRS web site. These emails contain the direction “you are to update your IRS e-file immediately.” The emails mention USA.gov and IRSgov (without a dot between “IRS” and “gov”), though notably, not IRS.gov (with a dot). Don’t get scammed. These emails are not from the IRS.

Taxpayers who get these messages should not respond to the email or click on the links. Instead, they should forward the scam emails to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.

Identity Theft Scam:

The IRS has issued several consumer warnings about the fraudulent use of the IRS name or logo by scamsters trying to gain access to consumers’ financial information in order to steal their identity and assets. Scamsters will use the regular mail, telephone, fax or email to set up their victims. When identity theft takes place over the Internet (email), it is called phishing.

The IRS does not initiate taxpayer communications through email. Unsolicited email claiming to be from the IRS, or from an IRS-related component such as EFTPS, should be reported to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.”

Visit www.bbb.org/atlanta/tax-tips2/ to check out our Tax Tips webpage.

For more information, please go to bbb.org/Atlanta or call BBB’s public line for help, 404-766-0875.