The IRS's ‘Dirty Dozen’ Tax Scams

A Guide for Tax Professionals and Taxpayers

Mark Lee Levine, PhD, JD, LLM, CCIM, ChFC

The IRS's “Dirty Dozen” report lists tax scams that have plagued the public, the IRS, and many other entities or parties in order to alert professionals and taxpayers of the common techniques that con artists use to take advantage of the public. The goal of these scams is normally the theft of funds via some tax position that “seemed to be too good to be true.” Tax professionals need to be aware of the scams that exist in the marketplace in order to counsel taxpayers on them. (This is akin to the many web warnings advising about new phishing approaches, which tempt recipients to click on a link in order to gain the “benefits” that are often touted.)