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Take your business to new horizons.
Your experts for personal and business tax returns, small business counseling, and financial planning.
The impacts of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic have caused economic hardship and uncertainty for millions of Americans. Unfortunately, scammers constantly seek new ways to target those in need. The IRS has therefore warned all Americans to stay alert for a rash of fraudulent calls, emails and text messages associated with the coronavirus.
Many of these scams relate to the Economic Impact Payments (EIPs, or stimulus checks) many Americans are receiving from the IRS during the crisis. The scammers often claim to be able to help people receive their stimulus payments more quickly.
The IRS urges all potential EIP recipients to be especially vigilant for unsolicited calls or messages that supposedly come from the IRS, as well as fraudulent websites and social media posts that ask for money or request your personal information. No one from the IRS will reach out to taxpayers in these ways. Instead, you can always find accurate information at irs.gov.
As a reminder, EIPs are being sent automatically to eligible Americans, including many people like retirees and recipients of VA benefits who are not required to file federal tax returns. In the vast majority of cases, you do not need to take any action to receive your payment. If the IRS has your banking information, the payment will be deposited directly to your account. Otherwise, a check will be mailed to you.
According to IRS investigators, scammers might:
If you have not yet received your EIP and wish to provide direct deposit information to the IRS, you should ONLY do so by using either the official IRS Get My Payment portal (if you filed a 2018 or 2019 federal tax return) or the Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here tool. Note that both of these websites have addresses beginning with irs.gov, and your browser should confirm that the site you are visiting is secure (usually by displaying a padlock icon next to the web address).
Under no circumstances should you provide your direct deposit or any other private information to any other website, or to anyone who contacts you in any manner and claims to represent the IRS. If the IRS needs to contact you about your EIP or any other matter, you will receive a letter on official IRS/U.S. Treasury letterhead.