BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor
Last week, a report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration named the top five cities in which potentially fraudulent income tax returns were filed. The City of Tampa was first on the list.
According to the report, the impact of identity theft on income tax refunds is significantly greater than the amount the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) detects and prevents.
The report stated that the IRS had detected 938,664 tax refunds that totaled $6.5 billion in fraud during the 2011 tax year. The report further stated that the IRS failed to detect more than $5.2 billion in potentially fraudulent tax refunds last year.
The report stated the top five cities with the potential to file fraudulent tax refunds were:
Tampa, 88,724 tax returns with $468,382,079; Miami, 74,496 tax returns with $280,509,449; Atlanta, 29,787 tax returns with $77,113,392;
Detroit, 23,870 tax returns with $74,313,933; and Houston, 22,754 tax returns with $72,089,847.
The report also named the top five cities where a single address was used. One address in Lansing, Michigan had 2,137 returns mailed to that address. A residence in Chicago, Illinois, came in second with 76,338 returns mailed to one address. The Florida cities of Belle Glade, Orlando, and Tampa made up the final three addresses most used.
The report also stated that the names and personal information of deceased individuals was used most often, followed by the elderly, citizens of U. S. Possessions (such as Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands). The suspects also used the identity of students between the ages of 16 and 22 to file false tax refunds and information pertaining to children under the age of 14.
U. S. Senator Bill Nelson (pictured) requested the audit to determine the extent of the fraud. Senator Nelson has introduced legislation to target tax refund fraud.
This report was one of two requested to gauge the growing problem of tax fraud. The Federal Trade Commission has reported identity theft as the number one consumer complaint for 12 consecutive years.
