| Sign up for The Hill's Newsletters: Policy at The Hill: | Week ahead: Lawmakers take aim at tax scams By Lydia Wheeler and Tim Devaney Tax identity theft is on the rise. And with the tax filing deadline a month away, the Senate Finance Committee is holding a full committee hearing Thursday to discuss how to protect taxpayers from schemes and scams. The Federal Trade Commission said the 109,108 complaints it received last year accounted for 32.8 percent of all identity theft complaints, up from 30 percent in 2013. Last month, the Government Accountability Office also released a report that revealed the Internal Revenue Service had issued approximately $5.8 billion in fraudulent refunds in 2013. Officials from the Justice Department and Treasury, as well as state commissioners, are slated to testify on protecting the public from fraud. When it comes to protecting consumers against tax identity theft, FTC spokesman Jay Mayfield said the No. 1 piece of advice is to file your taxes as early as possible. “Tax ID theft by definition is a scammer filing taxes in your name and under your Social Security number,” he said. “Beat the scammers to the punch. The earlier you file your taxes the less likely a scammer is to use your Social Security number to file a fraudulent return.” FTC also recommends leaving your Social Security card at home and only giving out the number when absolutely necessary. This tax season, the IRS has also highlighted the threat from phone scams, where criminals impersonate agents and aggressively demand payment and personal information. The IRS said scammers are even able to alter caller ID numbers to make it look like government officials are calling. Funding cuts have made it all the more difficult for the agency to combat these schemes. Congress has cut IRS funding by $1.2 billion since 2010, resulting in a workforce reduction of more than 13,000 employees. The agency was budgeted $346 million less in 2015 than it received in 2014 with $10.9 billion to spend for the year. With mandates and inflation, IRS said total reductions will be closer to $600 million. Elsewhere, gun control activists will rally Monday in front of the White House in a new push for major reforms. We The People For Sensible Gun Laws is pushing for universal background checks, gun safety training and an assault weapons ban. The rally comes as lawmakers are pushing again for background check legislation. The Second Amendment Rights Protection Act would require private sellers at gun shows and online to conduct background checks. http://bit.ly/1DNPcpr Meanwhile, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee will hold a hearing that examines music industry royalties Recent stories: Ban or not, kids allowed to sled at Capitol http://bit.ly/1G3hRJz Republican bill would abolish ATF amid bullet ban controversy http://bit.ly/ NRA gets flak for Gabby Giffords tweet http://bit.ly/1EmRp0e DOJ report finds racial bias in Ferguson police http://bit.ly/1GrpTzq Supreme Court sets date for gay marriage case http://bit.ly/1CCPsMR Most young Republicans support legalizing pot http://bit.ly/1wEMN3i Senate votes to block union election rule http://bit.ly/1M5NUL3 |
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