The New York State-issued income tax refund debit card offers these 
advantages:
    Safe:         More secure than paper check refunds
    Economical:   No monthly fees and no check cashing fees
    Flexible:     Can be used to make online and in-store purchases
                  with no fee; or ATM withdrawals
                  (in most cases, with no fee) 
    Easy:         Just choose the debit card option on the New York 
                  State tax return.

IRS says:  “Don’t count on getting your refund by a certain date to make major purchases or pay other financial obligations..."

E-file Refund Cycle Chart Discontinued-

In the past IRS published Publication 2043, IRS E-file Refund Cycle Chart, showing when direct deposits were scheduled to be made or paper checks were scheduled to be mailed.  These scheduled dates were based on the date the tax return was accepted by IRS into their system.

Now Publication 2043 is titled “IRS Refund Information Guidelines for the Tax Preparation Community”.
 IRS is no longer providing us a Refund Cycle Chart showing the expected dates taxpayers will get their refunds. 
This change is an effort by IRS to permit itself more time to conduct more testing on returns to find fraud BEFORE the refunds are sent out.  IRS says it still plans to get most refunds sent out within 21 days.

 

Taxpayers can find information regarding IRS’ processing of their tax returns at http://www.irs.gov/ by clicking on “Where’s My Refund”.   
Their tax return status should show up 24 hours after IRS receives their e-filed return, or 4 weeks after IRS receives their paper filed return.  Taxpayers will need to have their Social Security number, their filing status, and the exact refund shown on their return.

 

When taxpayers check IRS’ web site, they will find one of three messages:

1) The date the return was received,

2) The date the return was approved, and

3) The date the refund was sent.

The information at “Where’s My Refund” is updated once every night.

 

Important Notice - IRS warns consumers about a new tax scam that uses a website that mimics the IRS e-Services online registration page. 11-07-2012 12:52 PMThe actual IRS e-Services page offers web-based products for tax preparers, not the general public. The phony IRS web page looks almost identical to the real one. Please note that the IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information. This includes any type of electronic communication, such as text messages and social media channels. 

The IRS warns consumers about a new tax scam that uses a website that mimics the IRS e-Services online registration page

Description

The following informational alert is listed on the IRS website under What's Hot and the Problem Alerts section http://www.irs.gov/uac/Problem-Alerts

 

Consumer Alerts

‪Please note that the IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information. This includes any type of electronic communication, such as text messages and social media channels.

• ‪If you get an unsolicited email that appears to be from the IRS, please report it by sending it to phishing@irs.gov. ‪
• If you find a suspicious website that claims to be the IRS, please send the site’s URL by email to phishing@irs.gov, using the subject line: suspicious website.

 

October 2012
Don't Fall for Phony IRS Websites

 

The IRS warns consumers about a new tax scam that uses a website that mimics the IRS e-Services online registration page.

‪

The actual IRS e-Services page offers web-based products for tax preparers, not the general public. The phony web page looks almost identical to the real one.

 

The IRS gets many reports of fake websites like this. Criminals use these sites to lure people into providing personal and financial information that may be used to steal the victim’s money or identity.

‪

Additional Information

• The address of the official IRS website is www.irs.gov. Don’t be misled by sites claiming to be the IRS but ending in .com, .net, .org or other designations instead of .gov.
• The IRS website has information that can help you protect yourself from tax scams of all kinds. Search the site using the term: phishing.

Doc ID:		INF21854
Updated:		11/6/2012

On the radio this morning, there was an announcement that there is a scam email going out that uses the IRS logo and states that it is regarding refunds.
Just opening email will give access to entire computer.
They said, IRS states they never email anyone regarding refunds.
I am researching this and will post more info as I have it.
Suspicious e-Mails and Identity Theft
The Internal Revenue Service has issued several recent consumer warnings on the fraudulent use of the IRS name or logo by scamsters trying to gain access to consumers’ financial information in order to steal their identity and assets. When identity theft takes place over the Internet, it is called phishing.
Suspicious e-Mail/Phishing
Phishing (as in “fishing for information” and “hooking” victims) is a scam where Internet fraudsters send e-mail messages to trick unsuspecting victims into revealing personal and financial information that can be used to steal the victims’ identity. Current scams include phony e-mails which claim to come from the IRS and which lure the victims into the scam by telling them that they are due a tax refund.
Phishing and Other Schemes Using the IRS Name
The IRS periodically alerts taxpayers to, and maintains a list of, phishing schemes using the IRS name, logo or Web site clone. If you've received an e-mail, phone call or fax claiming to come from the IRS that seemed a little suspicious, you just may find it on this list.
The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email or any social media tools to request personal or financial information -read more here:
http://www.irs.gov/privacy/article/0,,id=179820,00.html
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=217794,00.html

Tax Season Humor
A visitor from Holland was chatting with his American friend and was jokingly explaining about the red, white and blue in the Netherlands flag. "Our flag symbolizes our taxes," he said. "We get red when we talk about them, white when we get our tax bill, and blue after we pay them."

"It's the same with us," the American said, "only we see stars, too."

REPORTING OF TAX INFORMATION WITH YOUR PASSPORT APPLICATION

Passports are not under the purview of the IRS, and generally do not involve tax administration issues. However, since 1986, U.S. passport applicants have to report certain information when they make their application. Code §6039E.

Proposed Regulations on what must be reported were issued in 1992, but never finalized. Treasury has now issued new proposed Regulations. Under these, the items to be reported are:

(1) the applicant's full name and, if applicable, previous name;

(2) address of regular or principal place of residence within the country of residence and, if different, mailing address;

(3) taxpayer identifying number (TIN); and

(4) date of birth.

provides legal justification for the gathering of reams of data on taxpayers, including marital status, business and investment activities, and asset holding that might otherwise be beyond the interest of government.

Proposed Treas. Regs. §301.6039E-1

That is why very often you must produce your tax returns when applying for a green card and later a passport.