IRS and Security Summit Partners Warn of Fake Tax Bill Emails

The Internal Revenue Service and its Security Summit partners today issued an alert to taxpayers and tax professionals to be on guard against fake emails purporting to contain an IRS tax bill related to the Affordable Care Act.

The IRS has received numerous reports around the country of scammers sending a fraudulent version of CP2000 notices for tax year 2015. Generally, the scam involves an email that includes the fake CP2000 as an attachment. The issue has been reported to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for investigation.

The CP2000 is a notice commonly mailed to taxpayers through the United States Postal Service. It is never sent as part of an email to taxpayers.

The indicators are:

1. These notices are being sent electronically, even though the IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email or through social media platforms;
2. The CP 2000 notices appear to be issued from an Austin, Texas, address;
3. The underreported issue is related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requesting information regarding 2014 coverage;
4. The payment voucher lists the letter number as 105C.

The fraudulent CP2000 notice included a payment request that taxpayers mail a check made out to “I.R.S.” to the “Austin Processing Center” at a Post Office Box address. This is in addition to a “payment” link within the email itself.