Tax season 2017 has officially launched! Have you started gathering documents in anticipation of the April 18 deadline? Remember that as you’re preparing for the upcoming tax season, identity thieves are too.

This time of year, fraudsters are especially prominent. They’re gearing up to steal real taxpayer identities and file fraudulent tax returns to steal the victims’ refunds. Always store your personal information such as W-2 forms, bank account summaries, and other tax-related documents in secure locations.

During the 2016 tax season, the Indiana Department of Revenue’s Identity Protection Program identified and stopped more than $5.1 million in fraudulent refund attempts and helped thousands of legitimate taxpayers realize their identities had been stolen.

This year, the department again will be implementing the Identity Protection Program to protect Hoosier taxpayer identities and refunds. This program will look similar to the security measures implemented last year, which includes the Identity Confirmation Quiz, a two-minute quiz asking selected taxpayers to confirm their identities.

Those selected to complete the Identity Confirmation Quiz will receive a letter from the department. The Identity Confirmation Quiz is taken on a secure website or over the phone and contains four short questions, which only the person asked to complete the quiz would be able to answer.

Contact your Somerset CPA tax advisor or get in touch with us at  if you suspect someone has filed a fraudulent tax return on your behalf.