Fake Tax Bills and the Affordable Care Act

Over the last  few weeks, the IRS has reported high number of fraudulent attempts to milk taxpayers with a supposed CP-2000 notice. These notices are sent either through email, or stamped into an envelope and sent directly to home addresses. These fake statements are asking citizens to pay off a remaining balance in relation to the Affordable Care Act health coverage. The scam was started to take advantage of the penalty taxpayers without proper health coverage have to pay.

The IRS lists indicators to identify these fraudulent notices on their site:

  • These notices are being sent electronically, even though the IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email or through social media platforms;
  • The CP2000 notices appear to be issued from an Austin, Texas address;
  • The underreported issue is related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requesting information regarding 2014 coverage;
  • The payment voucher lists the letter number as 105C.

The fake notices are reported to be very convincing, using typeface and jargon similar to that of the IRS, and requests payments to be made to a processing center in Austin, Texas – where the IRS actually has a processing center.  The IRS will never demand an immediate payment over the phone, and will first mail a bill if taxes are owed. They will not threaten to immediately bring in law enforcement for not paying. The IRS will give you the opportunity to appeal the amount first before demanding payment, and will never ask you for credit or debit card information over the phone.

The IRS provides an example of a legitimate CP2000 notice on their website.

If you are unsure of the legitimacy of any mail related to taxes, call the IRS at (800)-829-1040.