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Alabama’s commissioner of the department of revenue is on one of three IRS task forces looking to find ways to combat tax fraud. The IRS is investigating $50 million in tax fraud that happened during the 2015 tax season. Much of the fraud came through phony state returns. One of the victims was Joe Garrett, deputy commissioner of the Alabama department of revenue. Krebs on Security features a story on what the IRS is doing and just how the fraud occurs.
Brian Krebs, founder of Krebs on Security, talked with Alabama Commissioner Julie Magee about state tax fraud and what happened in Garrett’s case. Krebs found that the people behind Garrett’s fraudulent tax return used a variety of companies to try to get a $7,700 return. The fraudsters tried to get some of the money on a pre-paid debit card and some money on an Amazon gift card. Krebs found that in most cases, many companies profit from the tax fraud.
“There are so many people making money off of electronic transfer of funds, it’s ridiculous,” Magee told Krebs. “Five different financial institutions touched the fraudulent refund they filed in Joe’s name before it went to the thieves.”
Magee says her task force is not making much headway because of competing agendas. You can read the full story on Krebs website.
