Tax Season 2023: IRS cautions against taking tax filing advice from social media
Asher Notheis
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The Internal Revenue Service has issued a warning against taking advice on filing taxes from social media.
The IRS’s warning comes as the agency continues to warn taxpayers of the “Dirty Dozen” scams that persist amid tax season. The warning on Tuesday informs taxpayers of scams spread through social media that encourage people to file false information in their tax returns, according to the IRS.
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“There are many ways to get good tax information, including from a trusted tax professional, tax software, and IRS.gov,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “But people should be incredibly wary about following advice being shared on social media. The IRS continues to see a lot of inaccurate information that could get well-meaning taxpayers in trouble. People should remember that there is no secret way to fill out a form and simply get a larger refund that they aren’t entitled to. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
A recent example cited by the IRS in its warning was Form 8944, Preparer e-file Hardship Waiver Request. Several posts on social media claimed that the form could be used to receive a refund from the IRS, even if the taxpayer has a balance due. However, this is not true, as the form is only for tax professional use.
Another example cited by the agency was Form W-2 fraud, which encouraged social media users to use tax software to manually fill out a Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, and to include false income information on the form. Both the IRS and the Security Summit have warned taxpayers not to fall for this scam, and anyone who does can be severely penalized.
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In general, taxpayers should know that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is, the IRS advised.
Additional information regarding these types of social media scams can be found on the IRS’s website.