Tax Preparers Need to Be Extra Careful with Client Data

Unfortunately, cybercriminals are very prevalent these days, and they are getting very sophisticated at mining personal data and using it for their own benefit. Fortunately, the IRS has caught on to this and has recently launched a campaign to help warn tax practitioners about the danger of cybercrime and how to guard against it.   

Advice from the IRS

So, what kind of advice does the IRS give to help guard against the threat of cybercrime?

Well, for one thing, it urges tax professionals to make sure they have anti-malware and other forms of security on any and all electronic devices that they use to process client data.

It also encourages them to know the warning signs of “phishing” emails, which are emails designed to trick people into revealing personal data. These emails often pretend to come directly from the IRS, which is why it is very important to recognize these emails and never provide secure data or to click on any links or downloads included in these emails.  

Tax practitioners are also advised to have a data security plan and are even provided with two wonderful resource options to help them do so, Publication 4557 and Small Business Information Security- The Fundamentals, put out by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Taxpayers Should Be Careful as Well

While tax practitioners are the main focus of this push to increase security by the IRS, taxpayers themselves can also take steps to be more careful with their data.

Only working with qualified tax professionals, never providing personal information to anyone who claims to be the IRS via phone or email, and using hard to guess passwords on any sites that contain secure data, as well as not reusing passwords are all things that taxpayers can do to keep their personal information more secure.

If both taxpayers and tax practitioners work together with the IRS, the world can be a much safer place.