If you are a tax professional, business owner, or employee in a human resources department, the Federal Trade Commission and IRS can help you assist clients, employees, or others who find themselves the victim of tax-related identity theft.
Tax-related identity theft occurs when someone uses your stolen Social Security Number (SSN) to file a tax return and claim a refund. You may notice this when you try to e-file (only to discover that someone else has already filed a return), or when the IRS sends you a letter saying it has discovered a suspicious tax return using your SSN .At this time you need to submit a IRS Identity Theft Affidavit (IRS Form 14039) so the IRS can begin to resolve your case.
Until now, you had to fill out the affidavit from the IRS website, print it out, and then fax or mail it to the IRS.Now, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are teaming up to make it possible for people to use the FTC’s IdentityTheft.gov website. This is the only place you can file IRS Form 14039 electronically.
what is the benefit? IdentityTheft.gov will:
- Guide you through the process of completing Form 14039
- Securely forward your Form 14039 to the IRS
- Guide you on setting fraud alerts on your credit files, checking your credit reports, and taking other steps to stop tax identity theft from damaging your accounts, and
- Helping you resolve any other issues that may arise from tax identity theft.
Here’s how it works: IdentityTheft.gov will first ask you questions to gather the information the IRS needs, then use your information to fill out Form 14039 for your review. Once you are satisfied, you can submit Form 14039 to the IRS at IdentityTheft.gov and download a copy yourself. After approximately 30 days, the IRS will send you a letter confirming receipt of the message.
But remember, filing an affidavit does not eliminate the need to pay taxes. If you can’t file your return electronically, you still need to mail it to the IRS and pay the tax you owe.
We hope you will share this information with any victims of tax-related identity theft you encounter and remind them to visit IdentityTheft.gov Report the issue and receive fast and effective recovery assistance.
