Boost Security Immunity: Fight Against Identity Theft

The Internal Revenue Service and the Security Summit partners urged tax professionals this summer to take basic actions to stem the data theft from their offices.

The 2021 campaign begins as the number of data thefts reported by tax professionals to the IRS continued to climb. Through June 30, 2021, there have been 222 data theft reports this year from tax professionals to the IRS, outpacing the rate of 211 in 2020 and 124 in 2019. Each report can impact hundreds of taxpayers and threaten the tax professional's business.

"Boost Security Immunity: Fight Against Identity Theft" will urge tax professionals to take basic actions to stem the data theft from their offices. This is the sixth year that the Security Summit partners – the IRS, state tax agencies and the nation's tax community – have worked to raise awareness about these issues.

News releases

• IR-2021-170, Security Summit warns tax pros to watch for tell-tale signs of identity theft
• IR-2021-166, Security Summit warns tax pros to be wary of pandemic-related email schemes
• IR-2021-163, Security Summit: Tax Pros can help clients battle identity theft risk related to unemployment
• IR-2021-158, Security Summit: Tax pros should encourage clients to obtain IP PINs to protect against tax-related identity theft
• IR-2021-155, Security Summit partners urge tax pros to use multi-factor authentication; critical step to boost protection against data theft
• IR-2021-152, IRS Security Summit announces summer campaign to raise awareness among tax pros about identity theft; urges practitioners to boost security immunity

Tax Tips

• IRS Tax Tip 2021-132, Tax pros: Watch for tell-tale signs of identity theft 

• COVID Tax Tip 2021-126, Tax pros: Beware of pandemic-related email schemes

• COVID Tax Tip 2021-120, Here’s how tax pros can help clients battle unemployment related identity theft

• IRS Tax Tip 2021-116, Tax security tip: Get an IP PIN to help stop identity thieves
• IRS Tax Tip 2021-113, Multi-factor authentication is essential to protecting against data theft

e-Posters

• Publication 5545, Protect Your Clients: Tips for Tax Pros to Combat Identity Theft PDF