State Income Tax Return, Filing & Refund: TurboTax Says Hackers Are Using Preparation Software to File Fake Returns, Steal Customers' Refunds
TurboTax put a stop to allowing state income tax returns to be e-filed after numerous reports of suspicious filings were found, the company said.
According to USA Today, TurboTax, which is owned by Intuit, allows customers to file their taxes online with simple software. Customers can file both their federal and state taxes for a reasonable price and sometimes for free.
Now, TurboTax is finding that criminals are using stolen data to file fake state returns. The criminals are then able to receive tax refunds from the states. TurboTax has been investigating the issue and says it is not their software's fault but rather that criminals are finding personal information on their own.
Most victims of the fraudulent tax filings would receive a notice of a rejection saying one had already been filed out in their names, Intuit spokesperson Julie Miller told ABC.
Miller added federal tax returns have not been a problem because the IRS has added stronger fraud detection policies.
The company is turning the capability of filing state returns off until they solve the issue. TurboTax is working with state officials to get the ability restored and says individuals who have already filed their state returns with the software do not need to worry as their forms will still be processed once the problems are fixed.
Miller said there is so much data out there recent breaches at Blue Cross Blue Shield's Anthem Inc. and JPMorgan Chase are very possible.
Alabama issued a statement regarding the recent fraud concerns.
"The fraudulent filings originate from data compromised through a third-party commercial tax preparation software process and were detected through ADOR's fraud detection systems," the statement said according to Forbes. "Our systems have not been compromised."
TurboTax users have complained about recent price increases for investors and self-employed filers. These price increases have been hidden and caused these types of filers to pay 50 percet more than traditional filers.
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