On Air Now

IRS warns of “Ghost Preparers”

The Internal Revenue Service wants everyone filing taxes to be wary of what the IRS refers to as ‘Ghost Preparers.’ They are tax preparers who offer to handle your tax preparation for cash payment without signing their name on your return or informing the IRS that they aided in the preparation of your tax return. “You want to make sure they know what they’re talking about, and they’re going to be in business all year,” said IRS spokesperson Michael Devine. “Ghost Preparers (are) people that are probably criminals. You go in, and they want cash. They’re going to base their fee on how much your refund will be. They’re going to put in numbers and those numbers might be fraudulent. Then they’re going to print your return and they’re going to give it to you so that you can sign it and you can mail it. That means their name isn’t on it.” He adds that any tax preparer has to put a specific Preparer Identification Number on the return and sign it. When you sign your return and it’s sent in, if there is a problem with it, you become liable under penalty of perjury for everything on it. Bottom line, you can free file via the IRS website at IRS.gov or you can use a reputable accounting service, one that will sign your tax forms and work with you to assure that your taxes are filed correctly.

Recommended Posts

Loading...

Share Contact

contact-chris-mcintyre-qr-code