Articles

Please be aware that there continue to be email scams that purport to offer refunds or to require your company or non-profit to undergo an IRS audit. The IRS does not communicate such information via email. Below is an excerpt from an actual email that one of our clients received:

"After reviewing your latest Tax declaration forms, our office decided to schedule an Audit and Examination procedure of your tax declaration and income forms."

These emails look official, and even have links that appear to go to the IRS web site, but in fact take you to a bogus site. We strongly encourage you to call Smith & Howard prior to responding to any emails and to not access any links within such emails.

Following is information from the IRS web site (http://www.irs.gov):

Updated Jan. 14, 2008 — A new variation of the refund scheme may be directed toward organizations that distribute funds to other organizations or individuals. In an attempt to seem legitimate, the scam e-mail claims to be sent by, and contains the name and supposed signature of, the Director of the IRS Exempt Organizations area of the IRS. The e-mail asks recipients to click on a link to access a form for a tax refund. In reality, taxpayers claim their tax refunds through the filing of an annual tax return, not a separate application form.