This week is National Consumer Protection Week. In celebration of that, this post is devoted to protection from tax identity theft.

At this time of year, as we all prepare and file our tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), we are reminded again that tax identity theft continues to be a problem. Tax identity theft occurs when a criminal has either purchased or obtained your personal information and files a false tax return in your name to get a refund from the IRS. Then when you file your taxes, you get a notice that your tax return has already been filed and your refund issued. The problem is that you didn’t file your tax return and get the refund, the criminal has. If you are a victim, there are a number of things you must do to prove who you are in order to file your real tax return, and to rectify the fraud. It is a time consuming and rather irritating process,caused by this criminal act.

We also note that the Federal Trade Commission is hosting a twitter chat tomorrow, March 8, 2019 at 11 a.m. EST with the Identity Theft Resource Center to discuss protecting yourself against tax identity theft. Here is the information if you want to join the conversation: https://twitter.com/FTC; or https://twitter.com/ITRCSD.