ALL WE NEED IS YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER…..
The U.S. Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax matters revealed in January that the IRS certified 331 prison inmates as registered “tax preparers” during a recent 12-month period, including 43 who were serving life sentences. None of the 43, and fewer than one-fourth of the total, disclosed that they were in prison. (The agency blamed a 2009 federal law intended to encourage online filing of tax returns, noting that “tax preparer” registration can now be accomplished online by passing a 120-question test.) (USA Today reported in February 2011 that prisoners filing false or fraudulent tax returns scammed the IRS for nearly $39.1 million in 2009.) [USA Today]
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