Political Quotes

“this is the first day in which Americans across the country are eligible to file their 2018 tax returns. I rise today to introduce with my colleague from Alabama, Senator Jones, the Taxpayer Identity Protection Act. Our bill seeks to help prevent American taxpayers, including our seniors, from falling victim to identity theft and tax refund fraud. Last year, the IRS received nearly 142 million individual income tax returns. Nearly 75 percent of these returns were eligible for refunds. For the most part, these refunds are the return of dollars belonging to taxpayers that were overwithheld from their paychecks in the prior year. Millions of American families eagerly await these tax refunds-- money they may need to pay off debts, settle medical bills, or plug gaps in the family budget. Unfortunately for some Americans, these refunds never come or are long delayed due to identity theft. Criminals have figured out that, in many instances, it is cheaper and easier for them to steal taxpayers' identities and hijack their tax refunds than it is to traffic in drugs or rob banks. Identity theft-refund fraud occurs when a criminal files a false tax return using a stolen Social Security number and other sensitive personal information from sources such as hospitals, schools, or assisted living facilities, sometimes by recruiting employees to steal that personal information. The fraudster then uses the data to prepare fraudulent tax returns.…”