Watch Out! New IRS Letter Scam Has Tax Payers Believing that the IRS Owes THEM Money!

    LOS ANGELES, CA, December 20, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Checking the mail at the end of a long workday can be both a pleasure and a pain. It's always nice to see a card or a magazine but the one thing that will kill a mail checking high faster than anything, is seeing a letter from the IRS. Such was the case of Jeremy W., a contractor out of Salt Fork, Utah. After opening the IRS letter that he received in his mail box, to his surprise instead of owing money to the IRS, the letter claimed that Jeremy was actually OWED a refund! A bit apprehensive about the offer of free money, Jeremy called our offices here at Honest Tax.

We asked Jeremy to send the letter to our office and when we saw it, we were shocked. Unlike some of the sloppy fake IRS letters sent from tax scam companies, this was a very neat and official looking letter that could easily be passed off as the real deal and to the untrained eye, would look completely legitimate. The letter stated: "To Claim Your Refund please call the following number and make sure to have the "Tax ID" number at the top of the letter". The trick is that the recipient of the letter calls into their call center in India so one of their phone thugs can have a shot at the recipient. We explained this to Jeremy and that this letter seemed to be from the same type of scam. We called the number together and quickly identified it as one of the scam letters.

After the call, Jeremy said, "Wow, I didn't know there were people like that out there." We explained to Jeremy that he was fortunate to call us first because those scammers can sound pretty convincing. Jeremy also asked me how did they get his info. The reason that these tax scams have been so successful is because of two reasons. The first reason is that owing taxes plays into people's fear and they become an easy target for scammers. The second reason is a lot of the people that these scammers are targeting may actually have tax issues. If a tax payer has a tax issue, in many cases the IRS will file a tax lien against the debtor. When the IRS does this, the lien becomes public record and these records are accessible to anyone who may want them. The scammer will often get a hold of these records and use them to find potential targets. In Jeremy's case, since he files every year and always get a refund, he certainly did not have a tax issue and no tax liens. We explained to Jeremy that they must have just picked him randomly. After explaining all of this to him, Jeremy profusely thanked us for our time and actually just yesterday, we received a holiday card from him and his family.

The takeaway from all of this is taxpayers always have to have their guard up. In Jeremy's case, he probably would not have fallen for the scam even if he hadn't called us first. Others have not been so lucky. This latest reincarnation of this scam is just further proof that this is not going to go away anytime soon. So whether you get a phone call, a voice mail, or a letter claiming to be the IRS, it is important to make sure to check the legitimacy of the message. In general, the IRS does not call people and if they did, a tax payer would know well in advance that they do indeed owe. It wouldn't be an all of a sudden phone call telling a person that they are going to go to jail if they don't pay. Also, it is important to keep in mind that the IRS is not in the business of giving money away. If you or someone has heard from the "IRS" and question the legitimacy of the message, feel free to call me directly here at Honest Tax at 833-346-6378 or 833-3HONEST. We can go over it together and find out what is really going on! Happy Holidays!

At Honest Tax Relief, we strive to make sure every client not only receives great results, but also is kept informed on what is happening every step of their case. When new clients call in, they can expect to speak to one of our knowledgeable tax advisors who will conduct a thirty-minute consultation. This consultation allows us to get to know the client and determine which potential resolutions may or may not be available to them. We will dive into the client's current tax situation, and determine what, if any, tax relief might be available to them. Unlike other companies, we do not take on every client. If we can't help you, we will Honestly let you know. However, once on board with us, clients can expect constant communication until the conclusion of their case.

At Honest Tax Relief, our goal is to remedy a client's tax issue and make the necessary changes to ensure that a client can avoid tax issues in the future. As a client of Honest Tax Relief, our staff will often audit clients' files and past tax returns to not only make sure that they are properly utilizing acceptable deductions and expenses to maximize savings, but also to suggest changes that could make a significant difference in their future tax liability. We pride ourselves on being unlike any company out there. At Honest Tax Relief, we provide Honest answers and Honest results.

History
Established in 2003.

The company started small. We were doing tax planning and mediation. As we grew overtime, we quickly realized that there were large tax mediation firms that operated with less scruples then what tax payer's deserved. Eventually, to do things differently, we created Honest Tax. Honest Tax is destined to be the nation's number one choice for Honest tax help.

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