TIGTA: Tougher Measures Needed to Tackle Rise in Fraudulent Returns Filed by Prisoners

IRS needs to take additional measures to stop fraudulent tax returns prepared by prisoners, because thousands of these tax returns claiming hundreds of millions of dollars are being filed—and the law prevents the agency from disclosing information on inmates’ fraudulent tax returns to prisons, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a report released Jan. 17.

To combat fraud, IRS compiles a list of prisoners from the Federal Bureau of Prisons and state Departments of Corrections. The TIGTA report examined the reliability of the IRS prisoner file.

“Despite increased efforts by the IRS to improve the accuracy of ...