The IRS Won’t Stop Threatening Me!

Harry Galstian, founder & CEO of Direct Tax Relief, explains how phone scams pretending to be the IRS are common and how to deal with them.

Are you tired of coming home to dozens of voicemails from the IRS trying to collect taxes and penalties? Not only do they ask for immediate payment, but they keep threatening to have your license revoked or have you deported or arrested.  It can be exhausting having to listen to all these terrifying threats. The IRS can be so aggressive, they’ll demand payment NOW and even start intimidating you.

[To read more of Harry Galstian’s view on Tax Resolution & Negotiations click here]

Truth is, the IRS would never make such threats. The IRS won’t even call you. These calls are all part of a recent surge of phone scams. The people who are calling you are actually criminals impersonating IRS agents. They have one goal in mind, and that is to get confidential information out of you. They will ask for your home address, credit card numbers, and even social security numbers. I have even had a client tell me that one of these “agents” asked to meet at a nearby supermarket so they could pay their debt in cash!

You would be surprised how often these criminals successfully obtain confidential information, and even payment. People are generally afraid of the IRS, because they believe as a branch of the government the IRS has the power to do anything it wants. This is not true. In fact, the IRS will not contact you via phone; their means of contact is through the mail. Furthermore, they will send you multiple notices before taking any form of enforcement action.

So, what do you do if you get a call from one of these scammers? The smart thing to do is to get as much information from them as possible. Ask for name and phone number. Once you hang up, make sure to report them to the police. If you want the calls to stop, let them know that you are aware that their attempt is a scam. I am certain you won’t be hearing from that individual “agent” again.

[For more on Direct Tax Relief’s approach to Taxes click here]