Michigan residents reminded to be on the lookout for tax scams

Tax season is prime time for scammers to impersonate IRS agents, tax specialists or professionals, and collection agencies. The contact is most commonly made by phone, but can also take place by text message or e-mail. These scammers use both scare tactics and generous offers to get their victims to act.

Citizens should know that the IRS (and its authorized private collection agencies) will never:

• Threaten arrest or a lawsuit for failure to pay.
• Demand taxes be paid without the opportunity to question or appeal the request.
• Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
• Call to demand immediate payment via prepaid debit card, gift card, wire transfer, bit coin, or cryptocurrency. The IRS does not use these methods for tax payments.

Generally, the IRS will first mail a bill to any taxpayer who owes taxes. Tax payments should only be made payable to the U.S. Department of Treasury. Checks should never be made payable to third parties.

For those who think they might owe money to the IRS, they can check with the IRS directly—for free—by going to the IRS website to view their tax account. Anyone who owes back taxes and wants to make a payment can send money to the IRS directly from a bank account or apply for a payment plan.

For information on IRS and Tax Scams, go to the IRS Scams Page at Tax Scams/Consumer Alerts (www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-scams-consumer-alerts) or to the Michigan Attorney General’s alert page for IRS Phone and Email Scams (www.michigan.gov/ag/consumer-protection/consumer-alerts/consumer-alerts/scams/irs-phone-email-tax).