By now you should be receiving various tax forms such as 1099’s and W-2s that we will need copies of in order to file your tax return for 2013. Brokerage houses have until mid February to send you their consolidated statements.
Last year, a few of our clients experienced an issue whereby they went to electronically file their tax return and found that someone had already beat them to it. As noted in the excellent online blog “KrebsOnSecurity” written by the former Washington Post columnist Brian Krebs, the IRS is finding that identity thieves are using stolen Social Security numbers to file for fraudulent refunds. The fraudsters file their returns early on in the tax filing season before the actual taxpayer does. Then when the actual tax payer goes to file the true return, they find that the electronic filing fails due to a previously filed return. The actual taxpayer then has to file a paper return and go through the cumbersome process of signing up for a PIN code. It will also result in a much delayed tax refund as a result. Bottom line, fraudsters are using any number of means to obtain funds from the credit card attacks showcased by the Target breach, to fraudulent filing of tax returns.
Electronic filing just opened up this week and we urge you to start gathering your tax documents and make an appointment to meet with us to begin your tax preparation for your 2013 tax information.