WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service, working with the Security Summit partners, has announced a special awareness week focusing on taxpayers and tax professionals to protect sensitive financial information from identity thieves and tax scams as the holidays and the 2025 tax season approach, according to IRS information.

The 9th annual National Tax Security Awareness Week takes place this week by the members of the Security Summit, a coalition of the IRS, state tax administrators, tax software companies, the tax professional community and others in the larger tax community.

During the holiday season, people face the heightened risk of identity theft as criminals ramp up efforts to trick people into sharing sensitive personal information including through email, text message and social media scams and schemes. Identity thieves might use this information to try filing false tax returns and stealing refunds.

“Scams and schemes are quickly evolving. Extra caution by people during the holiday season and the upcoming filing season will be essential to avoid being a victim,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “By being aware of the risks, taxpayers can protect themselves, their families and their communities. Vigilant taxpayers are on the front lines of the larger efforts by the Security Summit partners to strengthen the tax system against identity theft and tax scams.”

National Tax Security Awareness Week features a week-long series of educational efforts by the Summit partners to educate and inform taxpayers and tax professionals. The week will focus on how to defend against identity theft and other scams, including inaccurate social media information.

A key tool in identifying and defending against these identity theft scams is the Identity Theft Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC), which was developed by the IRS and Security Summit partners to better identify and coordinate against fraudsters.

“The combined efforts of the Security Summit partners continue to protect millions of taxpayers from identity thieves. But the threat of tax-related identity theft remains, including the increasing presence of tax scams circulating on social media that pose a threat not just during tax season, but during the holidays and throughout the year. Consumers and tax professionals play an important role in helping us in this effort, and the information during this special week can help protect people from these continuing threats,” said Julie Magee, one of the original participants in the Security Summit and Tax Policy Lead for Cash App Taxes.

The IRS has seen a spike this year in the following scams:

– “Self Employment Tax Credit,” which in reality doesn’t exist.

– Household employment taxes, which taxpayers are coaxed into claiming by inventing fake household employees.

– Fuel Tax Credit, for which many claimants aren’t eligible as it’s meant for off-highway business and farming use.

– Inflated Income and Withholding, which encourages people to use tax software to manually fill out Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, and include false income information.

– Claim of Right, in which taxpayers are advised to file tax returns and attempt to take a deduction equal to the entire amount of their wages.

The IRS reminds taxpayers to add an extra layer of protection between their tax returns and identity thieves by joining the Identity Protection Personal Identification Number (IP PIN) program at the start of the 2025 tax season. They can do so after creating an IRS Online Account, a critical online tool that allows taxpayers to securely access their tax and return information from prior years.

Fraudsters are relentless in sending emails, texts and direct messages made to look like they come from a legitimate source, like the IRS, state tax agencies, a bank or a trusted tax professional. Taxpayers need to watch for such solicitations and the dangerous links, attachments and contact information they contain. Never click, call or reply on these without first independently verifying the source.

Steps that can protect taxpayers, businesses and tax professionals include:

– Automatically update security software.

– Back up important files.

– Require strong passwords and pair them with multi-factor authentication (MFA).

– Encrypt all devices.