Someone Filed Taxes Using Your Social Security Number – What to Do
Someone filed taxes using your Social Security number? Did you try to file your tax return electronically and the IRS rejected it? There’s a solid chance that someone has indeed stolen your Social Security number, and used it to file a fraudulent return to snag a refund.
What Should You Do if Someone Filed Taxes Using Your Social Security Number?
You should act as quickly as possible once it’s clear that someone has stolen your Social Security number. First, Use Form 14039 to inform the IRS that someone has filed a return using your identity.
Next, file your actual tax return on paper and mail it in. Include Form 14039 with it. The IRS may send you a “Letter 5071C” asking that you verify your identity. You can respond via telephone or through the IRS’s online Identity Verification Service.
Then report the incident to IdentityTheft.gov using as many details as possible. The site will create an FTC Identity Theft Report, an IRS Identity Theft Affidavit, and a personal recovery plan.
Next, contact one of the three major credit bureaus to ask them to place a fraud alert on your credit records. You’ll only need to contact one of the bureaus, as they are legally required to alert the other two. Here is their contaction information:
- Equifax: www.equifax.com, 800-525-6285
- Experian: www.experian.com, 888-397-3742
- TransUnion: www.transunion.com, 800-680-7289
What’s Next
The IRS will mark your account with an identity theft indicator and investigate. They will also issue a new, six-digit Identity Protection PIN, which you will use to file future returns. Resolution of these cases can be complex and may take several months.
Links
The IRS has instructions on how to get a copy of fraudulent returns.
Lastly, you can learn more about our services here!
Recent Comments