Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D., today, requested that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) immediately address the recent spike in reported cases of income tax identification theft.  In a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, Rep. Burgess cited a significant rise in theft reports from his own congressional district and demanded that the IRS provide analysis on their fraud investigation procedures.

“Tax fraud is a growing problem that devastates families and places billions of taxpayer dollars into the hands of criminals,” Burgess said.  “The IRS is responsible for maintaining trustworthy stewardship of taxpayer data. If they want to rebuild public trust, the IRS must help Americans feel secure in the belief that they are safeguarding sensitive data and combating theft.”  

Income tax identification theft occurs when a thief files an income tax return using the Taxpayer Identification Number or Social Security number of a legitimate taxpayer and claims a refund based on this stolen information. 

Each year, thousands of filed claims are subject to refund fraud. Last year alone, an estimated $5.8 billion was wrongly dispersed to identity thieves during the 2013 filing year.  Also concerning, is a recently released Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) report stating that the IRS took an average of 278 days to resolve fraudulently impacted accounts.