IRS Alert - Fake Tax Bills

September 26, 2016

On September 22, 2016, the IRS issued an alert warning taxpayers to be on guard for fake emails purporting to contain an IRS tax bill related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  The email attachment is usually an IRS Notice CP2000.  The fraudulent email and IRS Notice CP2000 usually have the following characteristics:

• The CP2000 is sent electronically to the taxpayer.    
• The CP2000 appears to be sent from Austin, Texas.  
• The CP2000 states that the underreporting issue is related to the ACA and requests information about your 2014 health insurance coverage. 
• The CP2000 includes a payment voucher using a letter number such as 105C.
• The CP2000 requests that (a) you mail a check made payable to "the I.R.S" to an "Austin Processing Center" at a specified post box address  and/or (b) the email contains a payment link within itself.  

What you should know about an authentic CP2000 notice:

• The CP2000 is generated by the IRS Automated Underreporter Program when income that is reported from a third-party source such as an employer does not match the income reported on your tax return.  
• The CP2000 provides extensive instructions to taxpayers about what to do if they agree or disagree that additional tax is due.  
• The CP2000 is always sent by regular mail, not email or other social media platforms.  
• The CP2000 always requests that a check be made payable to the "United States Treasury" IF the taxpayer agrees additional tax is owed.  Or, if a taxpayer is unable to pay, it provides instructions for payment options such as installment payments. 

To help protect you and your family from IRS tax scams, it is a good policy to aways contact your tax professional if you receive any apparent IRS communication.  Your tax professional can help you identify if the communication is authentic and how to respond if necessary. 

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