This blog spends a lot of time covering the various scams and cybercrimes that target tax professionals. So much in fact that you might start to think the future is pretty bleak when it comes to protecting your data. Luckily, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division released its annual report in mid-November, highlighting just how well it has done in 2018.
IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig noted that CI has kept pace with innovative criminals who are always trying to stay one step ahead of investigators. The press release included a list of the type of tax-related investigations undertaken by the division:
• International tax enforcement
• Employment tax
• Refund fraud
• Tax-related identity theft
• Public corruption
• Cybercrime
• Terrorist Financing
• Money laundering
According to the IRS, fiscal year 2018 saw CI open 2,886 cases. Yet, despite having the lowest number of special agents in more than 40 years and being the only agency able to investigate federal tax crime, CI got convictions for 92% of those cases. Chief of Criminal Investigation Don Fort suggested the successes of 2018 were at least partially due to an increased reliance on data analytics when choosing and building cases, indicating that subsequent years would heavily rely on this tool.
Taking news of CI’s efforts alongside the successes achieved by the Security Summit certainly makes the future of data security seem pretty bright. So take heart as you get ready for filing season; we’re making progress!
To read the full CI report, click here.
Source: IRS Newswire