Fake Payments with Repayment Demands: Criminals are always finding new ways to trick taxpayers into believing their scam including putting a bogus refund into the taxpayer’s actual bank account. Here’s how the scam works: A con artist steals or obtains a taxpayer’s personal data including Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) and […]
Scams targeting non-English speakers: IRS impersonators and other scammers also target groups with limited English proficiency. These scams are often threatening in nature. Some scams also target those potentially receiving an Economic Impact Payment and request personal or financial information from the taxpayer. Phone scams pose a major threat to people with limited access to […]
This week we continue our IRS Dirty Dozen list of tax scams. Social Media Scams: Taxpayers need to protect themselves against social media scams, which frequently use events like COVID-19 to try tricking people. Social media enables anyone to share information with anyone else on the Internet. Scammers use that information as ammunition for a […]
Each year, the Internal Revenue Service releases its annual “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams. This year, there is a special emphasis on aggressive and evolving schemes related to coronavirus tax relief, including Economic Impact Payments. I will be sharing this year’s “Dirty Dozen” over the course of the next four blogs. “Tax scams tend […]
If you received an Economic Impact Payment, you would have received Notice 1444, Your Economic Impact Payment. This Notice should be kept with your tax records for tax year 2020. This notice provides information about the amount of the payment, how the payment was made and how to report any payment that wasn’t received. For […]
We are constantly hearing about security and technology and perhaps are turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to anything we see and/or hear. But, in these trying times, there are many creative minds at work and not working for the good. They are coming up with new ways each and every day and […]
Mid-March, the height of income tax season. Add to that the COVID Pandemic and where does that leave taxpayers? Well, first of all, tax season was extended to July 15 to provide additional time for taxpayers to file their taxes. But, what about the people who filed their taxes before the pandemic was in full […]
Where are your original estate planning documents? In a safe place – right? That safe place could be a safe deposit box at a bank, a fireproof box or safe in your home. Hopefully, not in a container that could burn or perhaps suffer water damage if there was a fire. There are certain documents […]
You and the love of your life have lived together for years being perfectly content not being married. You have acquired assets together, like a residence, a second home, bank account or other items. But what will happen when one of you dies? Thinking that because you have both names on the asset, the surviving […]
Gone are the days of paper stock certificates to evidence ownership of stock. Now, if your stock is not held in a brokerage account, it will be held in a statement account with a transfer agent such as Computershare. If your shares are held in a brokerage account, you will have the availability to have […]
Connect with Capehart Scatchard