Internal Revenue Service

For the past several years, thousands of businesses have been hit with phishing scams during tax season. Through these social engineering scams, hackers obtain employee Forms W-2 for filing fraudulent tax returns seeking large refunds. These phishing emails are typically sent as clients begin the process of issuing W-2s to employees.  Often employers do not

As announcements relaying the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) continue daily, governmental agencies at all levels are offering information and guidance, and businesses are scrambling to prepare and protect their employees and customers. As part of a larger group in my firm helping to synthesize all this information, there is an aspect of responding to

Image result for Form 1040Tax season soon will soon be upon us and many not-so-eager taxpayers will share sensitive personal information about themselves, their dependents, their employees, and others with their trusted professional tax preparers for processing. What many of these preparers might not realize is that federal law and a growing number of state laws obligate them to

For the second consecutive year Virginia has amended its data breach notification law. In March 2017, in light of a warning issued by the IRS to all employers regarding the resurgence of a W-2 based cyber scam, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe approved, a first of its kind, amendment to Virginia’s data breach notification statute.

Last February, the IRS issued a warning to all employers regarding the resurgence of a W-2 based cyber scam. The scam, which targets businesses during tax season, was also “spreading to other sectors, including school districts, tribal organizations and nonprofits.” In August 2017, the IRS renewed its warning to  tax professionals and businesses as part

On February 2, 2017, the IRS issued a warning to all employers regarding the resurgence of a W-2 based cyber scam. The scam, which targets the corporate world during tax season, is currently “spreading to other sectors, including school districts, tribal organizations and nonprofits.” (irs.gov/news-events).

This cyber-scam is simple, but highly successful. It consists of

Earlier this year, we reported that the Internal Revenue Service clarified that it would not consider the value of credit monitoring and other identity protection services provided by employers to employees in connection with a data breach to be taxable income to the employees. IRS Announcement 2015-22. In response to comments, the IRS expanded this

When an employer is responding to a breach of their employees’ personal information, one of the last things they may think about is whether the value of the credit monitoring or other identity protection services they make available to affected employees should be considered taxable to the employees and reported as such. In Announcement 2015-22