Identity theft is a serious threat to business, partnership, estate and trust filers. Thieves may steal sensitive information to file a fraudulent tax return for a refund or to commit other crimes. All taxpayers must be alert and on guard at all times. It is important to take strong security measures to protect your business’ and your employees’ data.
Know the Signs of Identity Theft
Be alert to possible business identity theft if:
- You can’t e-file a return because one was already filed with the same EIN or SSN.
- You get a rejection notice for a routine extension to file request because a return with duplicate EIN or SSN is already on file.
- You receive an unexpected tax transcript or IRS notice that doesn’t match anything submitted.
- You receive a Letter 6042C or 5263C from us.
- You don’t receive expected or routine correspondence from the IRS because the business address has been changed.
How We Protect Business Filers
The IRS, state tax agencies and the tax industry work in coordination as the Security Summit to protect taxpayer data. Our program includes safeguards that identify suspicious returns. When we identify a business-related return that is potentially fraudulent, we issue a letter to the taxpayer seeking additional information before processing the tax return. Common letters are:
- Letter 6042C if we need information to validate the return
- Letter 5263C if we need information to validate the entity
Please respond immediately to IRS correspondence.
The IRS also asks tax professionals preparing business-related returns to answer a series of questions to help authenticate the validity of the business return. Tax preparation software for business-related returns also asks these questions.
We never:
- Initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text or social media to request personal or financial information
- Call taxpayers with threats of lawsuits or arrests
- Call, email or text to request taxpayer Identity Protection Pins