The IRS has
just announced their new “Taxes. Security. Together.” campaign which is
designed to help raise public awareness about how their use of the internet and
their personal devices can affect the safety of their financial and tax data.
It will urge individuals to take active steps to protect themselves and make
them aware of just how sophisticated identity thieves have become.
Included in
the “Taxes. Security. Together.” campaign is information about how the IRS,
state tax administrators, and the tax software industry are implementing an
expanded series of protections for the upcoming 2016 filing season to address
tax related identity theft. These added protections will include asking
individuals for additional information that will be included with their tax
return. The additional information will help government agencies ensure that
the return they are accepting is truly the taxpayer’s and not one that is being
filed by someone who has stolen their identity.
The “Taxes. Security.
Together.” campaign is a direct result of the IRS Security Summit, a
collaborative effort started in March 2015 between the IRS, states, and the tax
industry to help fight tax identity theft (of which CrossLink Professional Tax
Software has been a part of). This joint
campaign will include YouTube videos, weekly Tax Tips, and local events across
the country. This information will also be included on state websites and by
the professional tax software community during this upcoming filing season.
For more information on this campaign,
see the following on the IRS website:
- Taxes. Security. Together webpage – Explains how taxpayers, tax preparers, and businesses can help fight tax identity theft.
- IRS News Article 2015-129 (IRS, States and Tax Industry Announce New Steps to Help Public to Protect Personal Tax Data)
- IRS Fact Sheet 2015-23 (IRS, States and Industry Partners Provide Update on Collaborative Fight Against Tax-Related Identity Theft)
- IRS News Article 2015-117 (IRS, States, Industry Continue Progress to Protect Taxpayers from Identity Theft)
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