Political Quotes

“I am pleased to introduce with my colleague from Alabama, Senator Jones, the Taxpayer Identity Protection Act of 2018, a bill that seeks to help prevent American taxpayers and seniors from falling victim to identity theft and tax refund fraud. As of May 17, the IRS had received more than 141.5 million individual income tax returns for the 2018 filing season. Of that number, nearly 75 percent were eligible for refunds. These refunds are not a gift from the Federal government--they are the return of funds belonging to taxpayers that were over-withheld from their paychecks last year. In the past few months, millions of American families have been eagerly awaiting these tax refunds, money they may need to pay off debts, medical bills, and plug gaps in the family budget. Unfortunately, for many Americans these refunds have not yet come. Taxpayers are not the only ones eagerly awaiting these refunds. 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 like hospitals, schools, or assisted living facilities, often by recruiting employees to steal that information. The fraudster then uses this information to prepare fraudulent tax returns.…”