IR-2017-176, Oct. 17, 2017 Español

WASHINGTON — The IRS, state tax agencies and private-sector industry leaders today detailed their continued progress against tax-related identity theft and prepared additional safeguards for the 2018 filing season to curb refund fraud.

The latest IRS data continued to show significant improvements as fewer identity theft returns entered the tax system, fewer fraudulent refunds were issued and fewer taxpayers were reporting themselves as victims of identity theft.

The progress also underscored that the Security Summit partnership created in March 2015 has led to stronger federal and state tax systems than just a few years ago with important new protections for taxpayers – which take on even greater importance given recent high-profile data breaches,

“We've made tremendous progress since the Security Summit partnership held its first session in 2015,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “We've seen the number of identity theft-related tax returns fall by about two-thirds since 2015. This dramatic decline helped prevent hundreds of thousands of taxpayers from facing the challenges of dealing with identity theft issues. This reflects the unique collaboration between the tax industry, the states and the IRS. But we have much more work facing us. As we evolve, so do the cybercriminals here and abroad. We must constantly be on guard.”

“The collaborative work of the Summit is helping states, industry and the IRS identify fraudulent schemes and tax returns earlier,” said Courtney M. Kay-Decker, director of the Iowa Department of Revenue and a representative of the Federation of Tax Administrators. “These efforts mean we are better able to protect our taxpayers from tax refund fraud and from the effects of identity theft.”

This is Koskinen's final Security Summit meeting prior to the end of his term as IRS commissioner in November. Koskinen convened the various groups together for an unprecedented meeting in 2015. This session led to the creation of the Security Summit and a series of initiatives that resulted in greater protections for the taxpayers and the tax system.

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