Please visit my blog at www.greenelaw.legal to learn about the IRS “Dirty Dozen” tax scams.

Each year the IRS compiles its Dirty Dozen tax scams – the worst of the worst. Here they are. 1. First on the list is Identity Theft. We addressed this in May. 2. Phone scams – One type of phone scam was the focus of last week’s answer. 3. Phishing – this one uses fake emails to solicit personal information, such as credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, etc. 4. Return Preparer fraud – The preparer usually goes to federal prison, but the unsuspecting taxpayer is left with a larger tax bill than he thought. 5. Offshore tax scams – All offshore income must be reported, no matter what a promoter may tell you. 6. Inflated refund promises – Never sign a blank tax return for someone else to prepare. He will prepare a fraudulent return to get a large refund and pocket the money. You will then be left “holding the bag” when the IRS audits your return. I will discuss the other six in my next blog.