There are a lot of scams going around these days and scammers are taking advantage of every form of technology to try and steal your identity and your financial information. Some scammers will call you stating you owe the IRS and that they will send a sheriff to arrest you if you do not pay the balance immediately. This can be a very frightening phone call to receive, especially if you do in fact owe the IRS.
For the most part, the IRS won’t actually contact you via phone. However, there are special circumstances where the IRS can contact you via phone. Prior to receiving a phone call from an agent, you should have received some form of communication from the IRS via mail stating that you owe a balance. There are special circumstances here as well: Let’s say that you haven’t filed in the past 3 years and just moved last year. In this case, the latest address the IRS has on file for you would be what is listed on the return you filed 4 years ago i.e., your old address. If this is the case, the IRS may be sending notices to your old address without you knowing about it and thus, your first notification of an issue with the IRS might actually be receiving that phone call from an IRS agent. The good news is there are ways to tell if you are speaking with an IRS agent or a scam artist. Typically, a scam artist will threaten to send police over if you do not pay right now. They will also offer other payment options perhaps through a gift card of some sort. If you owe the IRS and they have gone through all of the proper notifications to the taxpayer, they will simply levy your bank account or wages – they won’t threaten police involvement if you do not pay immediately. They also do not currently accept target gift cards as a payment option.
If you aren’t sure if you actually owe taxes or what kind of collection action the IRS may take against, call us today and we can help you sort through what is fact and what is a scam. It is better to be too safe then risk your financial information. Call us today at 844-841-9857 or click below to schedule a free consultation.
Additional Readings
As a business owner, you know everything there is to know about your industry. You could be an expert on your specific business, but how much do you know about business taxes? If you are like other business owners, you might not know a lot. Luckily, there are professionals who can guide you through the basic and specific tax...
If your loved one recently passed away, you may have many questions about filing income tax for them. Perhaps the most important thing is to understand that you are not alone. Dealing with a deceased’s unpaid taxes can be challenging. For example, who is responsible for paying taxes when someone dies? Do IRS debts go...
If you have a tax balance with the IRS, you may be wondering if you can get a passport. While having your passport renewal denied or revoked is a possibility, it depends on the amount you owe the IRS. If your taxes become seriously delinquent, the IRS can take action against you, leading to the...
Most employers in the United States completely shut down or suspended operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. To help such businesses, the federal government implemented various policies, including the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) or Employee Retention Credit (ERC) program. However, it can take the IRS months to process claims because of the number of applications the...
If you’re a small business owner, you’ve probably heard about sales tax. Knowing how to collect, record and remit sales tax can be complicated, especially as your business grows. Keeping up with changing tax regulations can also be challenging. Paying sales tax for your small business is essential because failing to do so can result...
The Employee Retention Credit (ERC), also known as the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC), will unveil some major changes at the start of 2024. Starting in September of 2023, the IRS Commissioner placed a moratorium on new ERC applications through the end of the year, giving the IRS time to update its guidelines and develop a new...