IRS and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma

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Posted: July 10, 2020

PRESS RELEASE

Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation

Dallas Field Office

Special Agent in Charge Tamera Cantu

Date: July 9, 2020

IRS Criminal Investigation and the United States Attorney’s Office remind taxpayers of upcoming tax filing deadline; urge taxpayers to remain vigilant of scams

DALLAS — The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma today reminded taxpayers of the July 15 filing and payment deadline and warned against an increase in tax and COVID-19 scams.

Due to COVID-19, the original filing deadline and tax payment due date for 2019 was postponed from April 15 to July 15. Taxpayers filing Form 1040 series returns must file Form 4868 by July 15 to obtain the automatic extension to Oct. 15.

“Although the extension provides additional time to file the tax return – it is not an extension to pay any taxes due”, said Tamera Cantu, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-CI’s Dallas Field Office. “For people facing hardships who cannot pay in full, including those affected by COVID-19, the IRS has several options available to help. The IRS encourages taxpayers to visit IRS.gov as soon as possible to explore these options and avoid accruing interest and penalties after the July 15 deadline.”

As the filing deadline approaches, taxpayers should also beware of tax and COVID-19 related scams.

“With the impending personal income tax filing deadline, Oklahomans should be vigilant of fraudsters seeking to exploit unsuspecting, law abiding citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores for the Northern District of Oklahoma. “The IRS will not initiate contact with taxpayers via phone, email, or social media to request personal or financial information.”

In the last few months, the IRS Criminal Investigation division (CI) has continued to see a tremendous increase in a variety of Economic Impact Payment scams and other financial schemes. CI continues to work with its law enforcement partners to put a stop to these schemes and bring criminals to justice.

Taxpayers can report COVID-19 scams to the National Center for Disaster Fraud. Taxpayers can also report fraud or theft of their Economic Impact Payments to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration(TIGTA). Unsolicited (phishing) e-mails that appear to be from the IRS should be forwarded tophishing@irs.gov.

For the most up-to-date information about the tax filing deadline and IRS impersonation scams, taxpayers can visit IRS.gov.

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