Tax Season 2024 is set to begin on Jan. 29 with a filing deadline for individual income tax returns of April 15.

From the proliferating use of artificial intelligence to “everyday” phone and phishing scams, that season is ripe for criminals and the ways they will use to separate you from your money, or worse, your identity.

Scammers impersonating IRS agents over the phone or through electronic means have long been a mainstay of such activity, but as criminal techniques evolve, it becomes more and more important for all taxpayers to remain vigilant.

To that end, the IRS offers a number of tips to stay clear of scammers:

Email phishing scams: The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information. Generally, the IRS first mails a paper bill to a person who owes taxes. In some special situations, the IRS will call or come to a home or business.

Taxpayers should report IRS, Treasury or tax-related suspicious online or email phishing scams to phishing@irs.gov. They should not open any attachments, click on any links, reply to the sender or take any other actions that could put them at risk.

Phone scams: The IRS generally first mails a bill to a taxpayer who owes taxes. There are specific ways to pay taxes. The agency and its authorized private collection agencies will not:

• Leave pre-recorded, urgent or threatening messages on an answering system.

• Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law enforcement groups to arrest the taxpayer for not paying, deport them or revoke their licenses.

• Call to demand immediate payment with a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer.

• Ask for checks to third parties.

• Demand payment without giving the taxpayer an opportunity to question or appeal the amount owed.

Criminals can fake or spoof caller ID numbers to appear to be anywhere in the country. Scammers can even spoof an IRS office phone number or the numbers of various local, state, federal or tribal government agencies.

If a taxpayer receives an IRS or Treasury-related phone call, but doesn’t owe taxes and has no reason to think they do, they should:

• Not give out any information. Hang up immediately.

• Contact the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to report the IRS impersonation scam call at https://www.tigta.gov/hotline?type=IRSScamsandFraud.

• Report the caller ID and callback number to the IRS by sending it to phishing@irs.gov. The subject line should include “IRS Phone Scam.”

• Report the call to the Federal Trade Commission at https://consumer.ftc.gov/features/identity-theft.

If a taxpayer wants to verify what taxes they owe the IRS, they should:

• View tax account information online at IRS.gov.

• Review their payment options at https://www.irs.gov/payments.

What about tax preparers?

Additionally, the IRS this year is also alerting those who prepare our taxes for scams of their own. As people posing as real taxpayers who need help with their taxes, scammers use emails to obtain sensitive information or gain access to tax professionals’ client data, the IRS reports.

One scam allows criminals the ability to “steal sensitive personal information that will allow [them] prepare authentic looking tax returns to collect a refund — or use it to commit other types of fraud” by stealing passwords or planting malware when a prepare accesses what they believe is a clients’ online information.

Because of this, the IRS asks preparers to be “extra cautious when receiving unexpected email solicitations and avoid clicking on links or opening attachments.”

In Alabama

Drilling further into tax season, the Alabama Department of Revenue offers additional information. ALDOR offers these tips to help you file safely and get your refund quickly:

Filing

• File your return electronically, direct deposit your refund, and receive your refund quicker than those who file paper returns. If you must pay, electronic payment options are convenient, safe and secure. For more information on electronic filing options, visit https://www.revenue.alabama.gov/individual-corporate/individual-income-tax-electronic-filing-options/.

• File state returns for free using My Alabama Taxes at myalabamataxes.alabama.gov.

• Find forms for 2023 Individual Income Tax forms and instructions at https://www.revenue.alabama.gov/forms/?jsf=jet-data-table:form-table&meta=form-year:2023&tax=form-categories:154.

 Security

• File as soon as possible after you receive your W-2s, 1099s and other documents. Filing early can help ALDOR get refunds approved earlier, plus it enables you to get ahead of ID thieves.

• Be safe: ALDOR plays a critical role in preventing taxpayer money from ending up in the wrong hands. The department takes a little extra time to perform fraud detection reviews and accuracy checks and to match against employer W2s, but this diligent work helps ensure that you get your money instead of fraudsters.

• Employers must file employee W-2 information with ALDOR by Jan. 31. Employers who file late may face penalties and will slow the processing of their employees’ tax returns.

• After you file, ALDOR may ask for more information. If you receive a letter from us, respond quickly so we can review your information and get your refund to you as soon as possible. ALDOR will never contact taxpayers initially by phone, text or email, only by letters sent through the mail.

• ALDOR uses a variety of methods to validate identities and tax returns. To help protect personally identifiable information and keep dollars from going to criminals, ALDOR may send:

An Identity Confirmation letter that asks you to take a short online quiz or provide copies of documents to verify your identity (https://www.revenue.alabama.gov/individual-corporate/alabama-taxpayer-identity-protection-program/).

A return verification letter that asks you to verify online whether you or your representative filed the tax return ALDOR received.

• ALDOR stops and reviews about 3 to 5 percent of individual income tax returns each year to resolve mathematical errors or request missing information. To be sure that tax returns correctly reflect information and intent, ALDOR may send: a “Request for Information” letter that asks for missing or additional information to support data reported on the tax return, or a “Tax Computation Change” letter that explains changes that were made to the tax return.

Refunds

• When and how you file your return largely determines when your refund can be issued. For example, the department receives and processes electronically filed returns significantly faster than mailed returns. Also, returns tend to pile up later in the season and take longer to process. Generally, about 30 percent of income tax returns are filed in April. Returns filed this close to the deadline may require as many as 90 days to process.

• It takes additional time for new filers to be validated and entered into ALDOR’s system (approximately 10-12 weeks). Until then, the Refund Status website won’t recognize these taxpayers and will report their returns as “not entered in system.”

Generally, e-filers can expect their refund about 8-10 weeks after the date they receive their filing acknowledgment from the state.

• Paper filers: These returns take about 8-12 weeks to process. ALDOR personnel must manually enter information from paper returns into the database.

If you receive a letter from ALDOR asking for more information or to verify identity, the refund will be delayed until the requested information is received and reviewed by ALDOR.

• ALDOR will begin releasing income tax refunds on March 1. The best way for you to track the progress of your refund is My Alabama Taxes (myalabamataxes.alabama.gov), available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you don’t have internet access, then you can track your refund by calling our refund hotline at 855-894-7391 or the daytime refund status line at 334-309-2612.

For more information about Individual Income Tax, visit https://revenue.alabama.gov/individual-corporate/.

CNHI News Service