BBB warns of increased scams into 2022 tax season

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) -They say nothing is more certain than death and taxes. But the past few years, taxes have been anything but certain. The Better Business Bureau of South Dakota warns that this year more than ever that people should files taxes early, with staffing shortages within the IRS.

“This is the time you really should be gathering everything you need to file your taxes. We’re going to tell you, if any of the information on your taxes is incorrect, now is the time to really dig in before you file it.” said BBB SD Director Jessie Schmidt.

There will also be more information for people to file on their returns. Not only regarding government stimulus refunds, but extra information for parents as well.

“One letter should tell them the amount of their third stimulus payment they received in 2021. The other letter will be sent out talking about the advanced child tax credit that parents had received in 2021.” said Ness Tax & Bookkeeping owner Timothy Ness.

That shortage of IRS staff, and more data breaches recently, means more people may have their information compromised. Schmidt said that can lead to more scams on tax returns.

“They file a tax return with your Social Security number. And there’s not the checks and balances in place to say, ‘Hey, is that different from where they filed last year? Is that revenue significantly different than it was before?’ All of that sort of information.” said Schmidt.

But Ness said there are some actions individuals can take to protect themselves from scams. He said other than filing early, the IRS does have tools to make sure any information is safe.

“You can go to irs.gov, and actually sign up to get an identity theft PIN number. And you can use that for the current year return, or the coming year’s return. Each year you’ll be assigned a different number.”

Schmidt said all employers should have W-2′s and 1099′s to their employees by the end of the month, and said people should at least start on their returns at that time.

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