 Internal revenue service RS tax news dirty dozen taking tax advice on social media can be bad news for taxpayers Schemes circulating involving tax forms taking advice from social media bad idea for taxpayers Yeah, yeah, you know, I think that advice actually extends far beyond just taxes You know, I mean honestly like too much tick-tock talk and tax scamming will be the least of your problems However, some say if you do a lot of social media, you'll be happy as a clam It's been hoisted into the air gripped by the sharp talons of a bird of prey and then after being pride-opened and having half your Entrils pecked out dropped on to the sharp rocks of the jetty below so as to expose your soft squishy clammy bowels to the elements and the crabs But hold on that that doesn't sound like a happy clam No, no they say it's totally happy the clam is totally happy and Social media will make you happy as a clam to it'll make you happy as a clam That's currently that's currently in the clutches of a muscular starfish attempting to break your clammy back Like some kind of WWF wrestler Except for the clam. It's totally for real z's the back breaking thing for the clam is totally like real And it's like wait a second. Is that clam that's getting its back broken really happy? Yes. Yes, they say that the clam likes it the clam likes it look at it look at the way the shell is shaped on the clam it's smiling as its back is broken and Social media can make you happy as a clam to a Clamp currently watching his fellow clam mates be devoured raw Three at a time by an old out-of-shape man cursing each shellfish before inhaling it for not stimulating his nether regions like Viagra Okay, no This is getting ridiculous. There is no way that that clam could possibly like that kind of treatment I mean, I think I think you're abusing the clams You know happy as a clam seems like a seems like a propaganda term supporting like self destructiveness or something Honestly, was this was this term happy as a clam created by the Biden administration as If like as if like frying frying a clam out of its shell like pouring salt on it and devouring it It's some it's somehow some kind of clam affirming care or something like that. Is that is that how this is working? You see this is what I mean by euphemistic euphemistic language. It's causing whatever Onto the news. I are 223 dash 61 March 28 2023 Washington the internal revenue service today continued the dirty dozen There's a link to that series with a warning on day seven about trusting tax advice on social media They can lure otherwise on as taxpayers and tax professionals into compromising tax situations Social media can circulate inaccurate or misleading tax information They've probably been looking at the mainstream media posts on social media or something right there with it Any case they can have misleading information and the IRS has recently seen several examples So these can involve common tax documents like form w2 or more abusive ones like form 8 9 4 4 That aimed at a very limited specialized group So when they're shooting this stuff out basically on social media They can shoot a more targeted type of approach out and still possibly have impact a lot of people Depend on how they distribute, you know the scam remember how the tax system is working We have an income tax type of system there Therefore income is in essence bad for taxes because that will possibly increase the taxes The IRS tries to kind of see the income and verify the income of our self-reporting type of system They have leverage on the payer of a transaction that for example is most common in an employee or employee Situation where the employer wants the deduction from paying the employee the employee Wants the income, but it's actually bad for taxes because when they report it for taxes They have to pay they have to pay taxes on it The IRS wants to verify the employee's income with the use of the w2 form as well as Actually get withholdings in that kind of situation So like if you report something on a w2 that's actually different Then what the employer gave to the to the IRS that will clearly be something that you might not even get a refund from They'll fix it pretty much automatically or you'll get a notice about it because it usually shouldn't take even a manual person To figure that out it doesn't line up to what they have on their side for the w2 So that kind of that kind of scheme Likely isn't the isn't the most effective for the scammer the scammer might try to have people Basically submit a false W2 form claiming false income, which would be a little bit more sophisticated Possibly but that but even that is not going to basically work in the long run You would think because it wouldn't tie out to to the business side of things But the general concept you would think is if someone's trying to give tax advice and get paid on the tax advice They would be trying to do something that the IRS might not catch right away It wouldn't be caught by just the machine catching it But rather they would get a refund but once you get a refund That's not the end of the story because the IRS can still come back at you at least three years into the future and possibly beyond that If there was fraud or neglect or something like that and by the time the IRS comes back Then whoever gave the advice has been paid and is gone and whoever's the taxpayers on the hook Not only for the taxes, but for the added penalties and interest So those are the kind of scams that you would expect to possibly be happening It's something in that the machine won't catch on the IRS side of things They'll send the refund out and then the taxpayer thinks that's the end of the story. I got a refund. It's all over I can sleep easy. Well, you can't sleep easy because it's there's three years that they could come back at least And question the position that was taken and the other guy that took that helped you is gone And the taxpayers on the hook for taking those positions in the end because it's a self-reported tax system Okay So both schemes encourage people to submit false inaccurate information in hopes of getting a refund quote There are many ways to get good tax information Including from a trusted tax professional tax software or IRS gov But people should be incredibly wary about following advice Being shared on social media in quotes that IRS commissioner Danny Warfell quote the IRS continues to see a lot of inaccurate Information that could get well-meaning taxpayers in trouble People should remember that there is no secret way to fill out a form and simply get a larger refund that they aren't Entitled to remember if it it sounds too good to be true It probably is in quote fraudulent form filing and bad advice on social media are part of the 2023 IRS annual dirty dozen campaign. I kind of I'm kind of suspicious on these I know there's a lot of stuff obviously there's a lot of misinformation on the on the Social medias and whatnot but it kind of sounds like when they crack down on it so much that they're trying to regulate everything on social media, which is a Little scary as well because some of this misinformation comes from the government. It's sometimes it up from time to time But nothing it is a list of 12 scams and schemes that put taxpayers and the tax professional community at risk is losing money personal information and data and more Working together as the security summit the IRS state tax agencies in the nation's industry have taken numerous steps since 2015 to warn people about common scams and schemes during tax season and beyond they're just like the Justice League we're like Superman and like Batman went out and Warned people that bad people are out the Joker's out there So don't be wary if they mess if the Joker messages you if they Batman told people that so they can be cautious So it includes that it including the the identity theft scheme. So the security summit initiative There's a link to that here is committed to protecting taxpayers Businesses and the tax system against fraud and identity theft some items on this year's dirty dozen lists are new While others are Re-emerging while the dirty dozen is not a legal document for a formal listing of agency enforcement priorities It is intended to alert taxpayers in the tax professional community about various scams and schemes So trends on social media fraudulent form filing and bad advice Social media can connect people and information from all over the world Unfortunately sometimes people provide bad advice that can lure good taxpayers into trouble The IRS warns taxpayers to be wary of trusting internet advice whether it's a fraudulent tactic promoted by scammers or it's potentially false tax related scheme Trending across popular social media platforms the irises will wear a various filing season Hashtags and social media topics leading to inaccurate and potentially fraudulent information The central theme involves people trying to use legitimate tax forms for the wrong reason So here are just here are just two of the recent schemes Circulating online you got the form eight nine four four fraud a recent example of bad advice Circulating on social media that could lead to fraudulent form filing involves form four eight nine four four Preparer e-file hardship waiver requests There are widely inaccurate suggestions being made about this form Posts claim that form eight nine four four can be used by taxpayers to receive a refund from the iris Even if the taxpayer has a balance due this is false information Form eight nine four four is for tax professionals own is for for tax professional use only While form eight nine four four is a legitimate irs tax forms It's intended for a targeted group of tax return Preparers who are requesting a waiver so they can file tax returns on paper instead of electronically It is not in any way a form the average taxpayers can use to avoid tax bills taxpayers who intentionally file forms with false or fraudulent information can face serious consequences Consequences including potentially civil and criminal penalties. Then you got the form w2 fraud This scheme which is circulating on social media encourages people to use tax software to manually fill out form w2 wage and tax statement and include false information in This w2 scheme scam artists suggest people to make up large income and withholding figures as well as the employer It's coming from so now you see what's happening here Normally you get the w2 from the employer Which the iris pressured the employer to do and so you have to report your income in accordance with what's on the w2 Well, what if you Pretended you had a false employer and you and you made a w2 That had that had income on it but more withholdings Then you would owe income on and then you get a refund from it and the iris thinks everything's cool Because they have the w2 on their side too. Well, yeah, that again that could work in the short run But it's at some point it could become quite clear that the w2 that was issued is is fraudulent It's not right because it because there's no actual business Income or entity that that's tied to the form that was sent in likely right so that and and that's the kind of scam Where where you can't you would think that it would be a lot easier for the iris to say there was intention for fraudulent activity if you actually Filled out a w2 form as if you were made up employer and you're not really an employer that seems You know like intention might be something that they could prove there which is usually You know harsher penalties if there's intention of fraud There so any case scam artists then instruct people to file the bogus tax returns electronically in hopes of getting a Substantial refund the irs along with the security summit partners and the tax industry of the states are actively watching for this scheme in addition the irs works with payroll companies and large employers as well as the social security administration to verify w2 information the irs and the summit partners warn people not to fall for this scam Taxpayers who knowingly file fraudulent tax returns potentially face significant civil and criminal penalties How taxpayers can verify information keep in mind if something sounds good to true to be true. It probably is Except for those stimulus payments They did like a couple years ago and that and the PPP loans and everything's in the you know That stuff and the child tax credit with the advanced child tax credit all that stuff was Didn't too good to be except now it kind of is too good to be true because inflation's kicking in and the Piper will be paid Somewhere the other that's reality, but in any case That's the thing here irs dot gov has a forms Repository with legitimate and detailed instructions for taxpayers on how to fill out the forms Use irs dot gov official irs social media account or other government sites to fact check information Make a difference report fraud scams and schemes as part of the dirty dozen awareness effort The irs encourages people to report individual who promote improper and abusive tax schemes as well as tax return Preparers who deliberately prepare improper returns to report an abusive tax scheme or a tax return Preparer people should mail or fax completed form 14 to 4 to report suspected abuse tax Preparations or preparers. There's a link to that here and any supporting material to the irs lead development center in the office of promoter Investigations. There's an there's a mailing address you can check out Alternatively taxpayers and tax practitioners may send this information to the irs whistleblower office for possible monetary reward That's right. Basically bounty hunting here. Basically bounty hunting. What's the what's how much do you get? How much do you get they don't tell you I don't have that information? Maybe you can check it out the whistleblower page and see what kind of rewards we got going out for these for the Blowing of the whistle any case for more information see abusive tax schemes and abusive tax return Preparers here. They'll be a link. There's links to all the stuff and there'll be a link to this in the description You