Colorado IRS investigators share fraud warning as tax day nears: "Listen to your gut feeling"
As many people hurry to file their taxes ahead of the federal deadline for filing a 2022 federal income tax return on April 18, the IRS and its agents in Colorado are issuing warnings to help protect residents from fraud.
Many may not realize that a team of IRS agents work in the Denver metro area and are continually focused on preventing tax-related crimes, from improper filings to narcotics-related money laundering.
"We have international tax evasion cases we are working. We have COVID fraud cases we are working, we have a number of narcotics investigations," said Andy Tsui, a special agent with the IRS in Colorado. "So our goal is to deter tax evasion and tax fraud, and on the other side is our effort to prevent people from falling victim to tax fraud."
Agents with the IRS in Colorado have recently helped tackle several money laundering rings within the state, including one in the Thornton area that was tied to sending more than $10 million out of the country.
However, many Coloradans are targeted by scammers every day trying to capitalize on tax season.
"There is certainly an uptick during tax season because the scammers know it is tax time," Tsui said.
Tsui noted that the IRS will never call, email or text someone demanding money or threatening arrest over an IRS related issue. Tsui said most contacts will start with a formal letter in the mail.
He encouraged people with concerns to always look up the number for their local IRS office and clarify whether or not the contact they received was legitimate.
He also warned against using tax preparers who are not qualified or legitimate. The IRS warns of using "ghost preparers," or individuals who are willing to file taxes without linking their names to doing so.
Tsui says it is always good practice to ask for a tax preparer's preparer ID number which can be certified through the IRS.
However, just because they may have a preparer ID number does not mean they have your best interests at heart.
"Some unscrupulous tax preparers may be promising huge refunds. The truth is there is no secret loopholes that one or two people know about. The average taxpayer is not going to get any larger refund this year than last," Tsui said.
In the end, the individual who is filing their taxes is responsible for everything submitted, even if it was prepared by someone else.
Tsui says it is always important to read over all of the information and numbers before submitting and to make sure the money is being sent to your bank account and not that of the preparer's.
"Take your time, look things through. Listen to your gut feeling and don't click on that link or don't respond to that voicemail. They are always out there and always looking to take advantage of someone," Tsui said.
