Tax Law and News Beware of these common tax scams Read the Article Open Share Drawer Share this: Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn Written by Intuit Accountants Team Modified May 30, 2025 2 min read Scammers work hard to try to steal money and personal information, not only during tax season, but all year long as well. Taxpayers and tax professionals should remain alert and aware of these common scams to avoid losing money, personal information, or client data. Social media: Fraudulent form filing and bad advice Social media can circulate inaccurate or misleading tax information. The IRS has recently seen schemes that encourage people to submit false, inaccurate information in hopes of getting a refund or taking advantage of a credit, such as the Employee Retention Credit and the Fuel Tax Credit. Taxpayers should always remember that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Bogus self-employment tax credit Social media advice continues to circulate about a non-existent “Self-Employment Tax Credit” that is misleading taxpayers into filing false claims. Promoters market it as a way for self-employed people and gig workers to get payments of up to $32,000 for the pandemic period. In reality, the underlying credit being referred to in social media is not called the “Self-Employment Tax Credit;” it’s a much more limited and technical credit called the Credits for Sick Leave and Family Leave. Many people simply do not qualify for these credits; the IRS is closely reviewing claims coming in under this provision. Online Account help from third-party scammers Scammers pose as a “helpful” third party and offer to help create a taxpayer’s IRS Online Account at IRS.gov, but their real goal is to steal personal information. Instead, taxpayers should access their account directly through IRS.gov. Phishing and spearphishing Taxpayers and tax professionals should be alert to fake communications posing as legitimate organizations in the tax and financial community, including the IRS and the states. These messages arrive in the form of an unsolicited text or email to lure victims into providing valuable personal and financial information that can lead to identity theft. Spearphishing is a tailored phishing attempt targeting a specific individual or group. Tax professionals need to be very careful about spearphishing because of the risk of a data breach. A successful spearphishing attack can ultimately steal client data and the tax preparer’s identity, allowing the thief to file fraudulent returns. Offer in compromise mills Offers in compromise are an important program to help people who can’t pay to settle their federal tax debts. But “offer in compromise mills” can aggressively promote offers in compromise in misleading ways to people who clearly don’t meet the qualifications, often costing taxpayers thousands of dollars. A taxpayer can check their eligibility for free using the IRS Offer in Compromise Pre-Qualifier tool. More information Intuit® Tax Pro Center’s fraud and security content Previous Post Navigating the new tax landscape Written by Intuit Accountants Team The Intuit® Accountants team provides ProConnect™ Tax, Lacerte® Tax, ProSeries® Tax, and add-on software and services to enable workflow for its customers. Visit us online or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. More from Intuit Accountants Team Leave a Reply Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Notify me of new posts by email. Δ Browse Related Articles Tax Law and News IRS Dirty Dozen tax scams for 2025 Tax Law and News IRS: Make your clients aware of gift card scams Tax Law and News IRS Reveals “Dirty Dozen” List of Tax Scams for 2016 Tax Law and News IRS “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams for 2020 reflects COVID-19 environment Tax Law and News IRS Dirty Dozen: phishing, smishing, and more Tax Law and News Tax Return Preparer Fraud Ranks High on 2018 IRS Dirty Dozen List Tax Law and News Identity Theft Tops the List of This Year’s IRS “Dirty Dozen” Tax Law and News April Fools Day Alert: Phone Scams Continue to be Serious Threat Nationwide Tax Law and News IRS issues warning about coronavirus-related scams Tax Law and News IRS Urges Public to Stay Alert for Scam Phone Calls