Bad tax advice: what not to do, even if the Internet advises you to try

29 January US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began accepting and processing declarations for 2023. If you are just preparing to report on your income last year, do not listen to advice on the Internet. Unverified advice from the Internet can lure honest taxpayers into fraudulent schemes and compromising tax situations.

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“There are many ways to get reliable tax information, including from a trusted tax professional, tax software, and IRS.gov. People should be incredibly careful in following advice posted on social media, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said. — There is a lot of inaccurate information on social networks that can create problems for taxpayers. People should remember that there is no secret way to get a bigger tax refund that they are not entitled to. Remember: if something sounds too good to be true, there’s a good chance it’s a scam.”

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The IRS is aware of various hashtags circulating on social media during filing season that result in inaccurate and potentially fraudulent information. The most common bad advice is to misuse legitimate tax forms. Here are two recent schemes circulating on the Internet.

Form 8944

A recent example of bad advice from social media involves Form 8944 (Preparer e-file Hardship Waiver Request).

Extremely inaccurate assumptions have been made regarding this form. The posts claim that taxpayers can use Form 8944 to get a refund from the IRS even if the taxpayer owes a debt. This is false information. Form 8944 is for professional use by tax preparers only and has a completely different purpose.

Form 8944 is for tax return preparers who want to request the electronic filing exemption. That is, they want to file a return on paper and not electronically. This is by no means a form that a typical taxpayer can use to avoid a tax bill. Taxpayers who intentionally file forms with false or fraudulent information may face serious consequences, including civil and criminal penalties.

Form W-2

This scheme advises you to manually fill out a W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement) form with false income information. This form usually comes to the person from the employer. Then the scammers advise you to send an electronic return with false numbers from the W-2 form you made up and expect a large refund.

The IRS is actively monitoring this scheme. In addition, the IRS works with employers and the Social Security Administration to verify information on W-2 forms.

Don't fall for this scam! Taxpayers who knowingly file fraudulent tax returns may face significant civil and criminal penalties.

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Where taxpayers can get verified information

• IRS.gov has repository forms with detailed instructions on how to fill them out correctly.
• Use IRS.gov official IRS accounts on social media or other government sites to verify information.

For more information on common tax scams, see here.

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