Recent Northern Indiana Prosecutions Serve As Reminder To File And Pay Taxes
Posted
Staff Report-
HAMMOND – With the July 15 federal income tax deadline rapidly approaching, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and IRS Criminal Investigation are reminding people that the tax filing and payment deadline is July 15, and to continue to be on the lookout for scam artists. Please know that the IRS will not contact you by phone, email, or social media to ask for your personal information.
Due to COVID-19, the original filing deadline and tax payment due date for 2019 personal income tax returns was postponed from April 15 to July 15. Taxpayers filing Form 1040 series returns must file Form 4868 by July 15 to obtain the automatic extension to Oct. 15.
In the last few months, the IRS Criminal Investigation division (CI) has continued to see a tremendous increase in a variety of Economic Impact Payment scams and other financial schemes. CI continues to work with its law enforcement partners to put a stop to these schemes and bring criminals to justice. Taxpayers can report COVID-19 scams to theNational Center for Disaster Fraud. Taxpayers can also report fraud or theft of their Economic Impact Payments to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). Unsolicited (phishing) e-mails that appear to be from the IRS should be forwarded to phishing@irs.gov.
As the tax filing season winds down next week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and IRS Criminal Investigation are warning those who might consider preparing false tax returns to be aware of the serious consequences such as possible prison time and having to pay back all the taxes owed, plus steep penalties and interest. During the last nine months, several court actions occurred in Indiana which serve as a reminder to taxpayers, to think before filing a false or fraudulent tax return and to be wary of any schemes that falsify your income or deductions.
