WE Blog

The IRS receives a nice chunk of all of our paychecks; one would think it would safeguard that money carefully and notice multiple tax refunds under different names being deposited in one checking account. It didn’t.
Evangelos Dimitros Soukas, a convicted felon who is serving eight years in a federal prison for identity fraud and filling false income tax returns, described to Congress how easy it was to file false tax returns online.
Neither a PIN number nor a mother’s maiden name is required when filing electronically or when a person calls the IRS directly.
The IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said during the hearings that the IRS would look into electronic safeguards, but that it has to find a balance between adding protection and making taxpaying more consumer friendly. Everson went on to say, “If you stop everything that you think is questionable, then you will be damaging the interests of many legitimate taxpayers.”
Is stopping a taxpayer for a PIN number not consumer friendly? I believe that would be in our best interests to receive our own refund, rather than chance them being stolen by a felon.
Every secure online or telephone transaction requires a form of identification other than name and date of birth, why has the IRS not done the same?
Posted by Ross Stewart