Collins, Jones Bill to Prevent Con Artists from Stealing Tax Refunds Heads to President’s Desk to be Signed into Law

Washington, D.C. – Last night, the Senate unanimously passed legislation authored by U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Doug Jones (D-AL) to thwart identity theft tax refund fraud and prevent American taxpayers and seniors from falling victim.  Their bill, which was included as a provision in the Taxpayer First Act, previously passed the House of Representatives and now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

The Taxpayer Identity Protection Act would require the IRS to expand its Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN) pilot program nationwide over the next five years.  While the IRS has made significant progress in combatting identity theft refund fraud, it continues to be one of the biggest challenges facing the agency, costing victims a total of $1.7 billion in 2016 alone.  Millions of American families depend on this money to pay off debts, settle medical bills, or plug gaps in the family budget. Worst of all, victims are often the most vulnerable.  In 2010, 76,000 low-income senior citizens were victims of this theft.  In remarks from the Senate floor earlier this year, Senator Collins urged her colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation to protect Americans’ tax refunds.

“Each year, tens of thousands of Americans’ are victims of tax refund fraud, and seniors are particularly vulnerable,” said Senator Collins, the Chairman of the Aging Committee.  “Having an IP PIN has proven to protect against identity theft.  I am delighted that Congress has taken this concrete action to help protect taxpayers from being ripped off by criminals and ensure that they receive the refunds to which they are entitled.”

“The fact that this bill passed Congress with bipartisan support is great news for all taxpayers, especially the seniors who are more likely to be targets of tax return fraud and scams. This is a concrete step that will help protect American taxpayers by reducing identity theft and saving over a billion dollars in taxpayer money each year,” Senator Jones said. 

Identity theft refund fraud occurs when a scammer files a false tax return using a stolen Social Security number (SSN) and other personal information and receives a tax refund from the IRS.  These fraudulent tax refund payments waste taxpayer dollars, jeopardize the legitimate refunds of taxpayers, and threaten the integrity of the IRS.

An IP PIN is a six-digit number assigned to eligible taxpayers that allows their tax returns and refunds to be processed without delay and helps prevent the misuse of their SSNs on fraudulent income tax returns.  If a tax return is filed with a SSN and an incorrect or missing IP PIN, the IRS’ system automatically rejects the return until the identity of the filer can be confirmed.  According to the IRS, the IP PIN program rejected approximately 7,376 fraudulent e-filed tax returns in just one month during last year’s tax filing season.

While taxpayers would not be required to use an IP PIN, Senators Collins and Jones’ legislation would allow them to opt-in to the program if they desire an extra layer of identity protection.  The five-year incremental expansion would provide accountability that the IRS is adequately building out the IP PIN program, while at the same time ensuring taxpayers have access to the extra layer of security as soon as possible.  Since 2013, the IRS program has only offered IP PINs to victims of identity theft as well as all residents of Florida, Georgia, California, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia.  The IRS issued nearly 3.5 million IP PINs to taxpayers last year, up from 770,000 in 2013. 

In 2017, the Federal Trade Commission received more than 82,000 complaints related to tax-refund fraud.  Those who have been defrauded often wait months—even years—to receive the refunds to which they are legally entitled.

In addition to the Taxpayer Identity Protection Act, the Taxpayer First Act contains a number of other provisions designed to modernize the IRS in areas such as customer service, taxpayer rights during the enforcement process, information technology, and electronic systems.  For example, the legislation exempts low-income people from the IRS's private debt collection program, establishes an independent appeals office, and provides identity theft victims with a single point of contact at the IRS.