CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Tax season officially opens on Jan. 19 when the Internal Revenue Service begins accepting individual electronic returns.
The IRS is scheduled to begin processing paper returns and any returns submitted earlier by tax software companies at the same time.
Ahead of that, the West Virginia Tax Department is partnering with the IRS, other state revenue departments and members of the tax industry to fight identity theft and tax refund fraud.
The nationwide effort, a public-private partnership, includes a number of initiatives ranging from better methods of verifying taxpayer identities to enhanced communication and information sharing.
“The more people we have working together, the stronger we are,” said Lalena Price, communications director for the West Virginia Department of Revenue. “In West Virginia, our economic health depends on our diligence and commitment to fighting tax refund fraud.”
Personal income tax collections account for about 44 percent of West Virginia’s total general revenue budget, according to Price.
During the 2015 tax season, Price said the state Tax Department processed more than 830,000 returns. In upwards of 560,000 of those cases, refunds have been returned for a total of $206 million so far.
“A combination of electronic security measures as well as employee diligence prevented 1,294 returns that were deemed as fraudulent from being issued and that catch right there saved the state more than $2.6 million in fraudulent refunds,” Price explained.
Employees also stopped the issuance of a $1 million refund for a single fraudulent return, she said.
Tax Department Commissioner Mark Matkovich recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the partnership that could build on those existing fraud prevention measures.
It came out of a security summit the IRS held in 2015 that brought together tax administrators and industry leaders to discuss emerging threats.
“The level of sophisticated crime the industry is seeing is astounding. It is no longer just a threat. It is touching the lives of taxpayers in every state,” Matkovich said in a statement. “We need to do everything we can do to protect our taxpayers and our state’s economy.”
Price agreed. “We have to try to stay ahead and, by forming partnerships like this with the IRS and other state agencies across the country, it strengthens what we’re able to do,” she said.
The deadline to submit 2015 tax returns is Monday, Apr. 18. this year because Washington, D.C. is scheduled to celebrate Emancipation Day on Friday, Apr. 15.
Due to Patriots Day, the filing deadline will be Apr. 19 in Maine and Massachusetts.