WROC Rochester First
CPA Tom Walpole discussed the growing problem of tax return identity theft Monday on News 8 at Sunrise. Walpole said millions of people have had their data compromised over the past few years, even the IRS. Tax return identity theft has become an expensive problem. Last year, the IRS paid out $5.8 billion in fraudulent refunds. The good news, it caught $24.2 billion of fraudulent claims before they were paid out. Here's how the theft works each year. Identity thieves get taxpayers information and then file returns that result in refunds. Those refunds are directly deposited into bank accounts and the thieves withdraw the money and vanish. When the real taxpayers file their return, they're told one has already been filed in their name.