Really - it's probably a scam. The IRS does not initiate communication with taxpayers via email. They especially do not ask for personal information via email. In fact, your tax preparer probably doesn't either. Sure, they'll send a welcome email, and a Thank You email, but they shouldn't initiate communication with email.
The only time you should respond to an email about taxes is if you either recognize the email address from their business card or previous communication or you have previously discussed communicating via email on a given subject or tax return.
In my business, I do communicate via email, but most people who I communicate with via email are current customers who know my email address, or people who have gotten my email address from one of my customers and initiated the email chain themselves.
If you get an email from your tax company, a state revenue agency, or the IRS, you should be suspicious. Go to the website by manually entering the address, or googling the address. Never click on an email link unless you know the sender and are sure their email hasn't been hacked. This is good advice for any emails (google Fedex delivery email scam for another example).
Here's a link to the IRS scam site:
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Tax-Scams-Consumer-Alerts
You can trust this email: taxadvisor@email.com - shoot me an email if you have any questions...
I agree. It's probably a scam, particularly phishing. There have emails going around claiming to come from the IRS and telling victims that they are due a tax refund. Of course, since the IRS is a very serious organization, these unsuspecting victims voluntarily reveal personal and financial information that can be used to steal their identity. It's best to ignore and delete such messages.
ReplyDeleteCory Saba @ IntegratedAccounting.com