By Brian Wolfman
In today's Washington Post, Michele Singletary discusses her "Dirty Dozen": the 12 most
popular scams that tax preparers try to sell to taxpayers hoping for a big (but illegal) federal tax refund. At the end of the day, either the rest of us are the victims (if the IRS does not catch the cheaters) or the taxpayer gets socked with a big liability, including the unpaid taxes, interest, civil monetary penalties, and even criminal sanctions. The top scam this year, Singletary explains, relates to a new law entitling millions of taxpayers to a credit for an improperly collected 3% federal telecommunications excise tax. The credit is a flat $30 to $60, unless the taxpayer has records showing that he or she actually paid more in excise tax. The scam artists are urging taxpayers to inflate the credit, and, Singletary claims, some taxpayers, at the insistence of tax preparers, have sought credits in the total amount of their phone bills rather than just the 3% excise tax.
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