Tax Tip of the Week | No. 362 | One Million Fewer Taxpayers Asked to Take ID Quiz

Tax Tip of the Week | July 6, 2016 | No. 362 | One Million Fewer Taxpayers Asked to Take ID Quiz

Here is a recent press release from the Ohio Society of CPAs……..The Ohio Department of Taxation said about 1 million fewer taxpayers had to take its ID Confirmation Quiz to get their refunds this past tax season.This was the result of more experience in fighting tax fraud and better targeting of suspicious income tax returns, Tax Commissioner Joe Testa said.“The analysis we’ve done and modifications we’ve made have allowed us to dramatically reduce the number of taxpayers being asked to take the quiz and still remain among national leaders in aggressively combating these fraud schemes,” he said. “We will continue to refine our defenses to keep the state treasury safe and work to make the process more user-friendly.”Last year, nearly 1.7 million taxpayers were asked to take the ID Quiz; this season that number was reduced by nearly two-thirds, to about 665,000.Last year, taxpayers complained about the questions and Gov. Kasich vetoed a budget provision that would have limited the questions to information obtained from the previous five years. Testa told OSCPA such a limit would have hamstrung his department’s ability to examine tax returns.Testa said taxpayers this year told the department the quiz was quick and easy to take, a view supported by its 98.8% passage rate. In addition, as identity theft and attempted tax fraud have become more prevalent issues, taxpayers said they understood and appreciated the extra steps ODT has taken to protect their identity and tax dollars. Security measures were also expanded this year to protect the identity of minors as well as adults.Since 2014 more than $526 million in fraudulent income tax refund claims have been blocked, the department said, and that number is expected to increase. Final data for the recent filing season is not yet available.You can contact us in Dayton at 937-436-3133 and in Xenia at 937-372-3504.  Or visit our website.Rick Prewitt – the guy behind TTW...until next week.