News & Analysis as of

Data Breach Tax Returns

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

“Littlejohn Notices” Continue to Cause Big Headaches for Taxpayers

Earlier this year, the IRS confirmed that over 400,000 taxpayers were victims of IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn’s 2019 leak of taxpayer data, which is discussed here. Littlejohn stole IRS data that included taxpayers’...more

Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A.

Holding Government Contractors Accountable: Safeguarding Taxpayer Data

Taxpayer confidentiality isn’t just a legal technicality—it’s a fundamental pillar of trust in the U.S. tax system. Federal law is designed to ensure that individuals and businesses can comply with tax obligations without...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

More Taxpayers Hit with “Littlejohn Notices”, Leaving Many Not so Merry

In April 2024, the IRS sent notices informing more than 70,000 taxpayers that their tax and personal data had been stolen in 2019 by a former IRS contractor, Charles Littlejohn. Littlejohn not only stole the data of hundreds...more

J.S. Held

How to Defend Against Identity Theft This Tax Season

J.S. Held on

In recent years, identity theft cases have surged, especially during tax season. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in 2022, the federal agency identified and prevented USD 5.7 billion in tax-related fraud, and...more

ArentFox Schiff

IRS Data Leak Hits Home: Actions for Taxpayers in the Wake of the Littlejohn IRS Data Breach

ArentFox Schiff on

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has begun the process of informing over 70,000 taxpayers that their confidential tax information was leaked in a widespread breach by a former IRS contractor. Those impacted should take...more

Foster Garvey PC

The IRS Continues Taking Measures to Enhance Security – the EIN Application Process Changed Earlier This Year

Foster Garvey PC on

With data breaches becoming a common event throughout the world, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has been undertaking a number of initiatives aimed at enhancing its security of taxpayer information and preventing the...more

Snell & Wilmer

Taxpayer Cybersecurity – Step 5: Create a Data Theft Recovery Plan

Snell & Wilmer on

The Security Summit, consisting of the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), state tax agencies, and private-sector tax industry officials, is encouraging tax professionals during the 2019 summer season to take some time to...more

McGuireWoods LLP

2018 Virginia General Assembly Wrap-Up: Modest Privacy-Related Bills Adopted

McGuireWoods LLP on

The 2018 Regular Session of the Virginia General Assembly recently concluded after considering approximately 3700 bills and resolutions during the 60-day session. Several privacy-related bills were on the legislative agenda,...more

Fisher Phillips

Employers Take Note: Tax Season Phishing Scams on the Rise

Fisher Phillips on

It is tax season once again, and with it comes an increased threat of phishing scams targeting human resources and payroll personnel. In 2016, the IRS alerted employers to a then-emerging email phishing scheme in which...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Virginia General Assembly to Tackle a Variety of Privacy Related Bills

McGuireWoods LLP on

The Virginia General Assembly is underway and several privacy related bills are on the legislative agenda for 2018. The Virginia legislature will consider approximately 3,000 bills during its 60-day session that will end in...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Federal Court Permits Former Employees’ Data Breach Claims To Move Forward

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

A data breach occurs in which an outside individual obtains your company’s employees’ W-2 forms including social security numbers, addresses, and salary information. As a result, your company notifies all affected employees,...more

Bowditch & Dewey

Equifax Breach: What Can the Hackers Do with Your Information and How Can You Protect Yourself?

Bowditch & Dewey on

The Equifax breach is not the biggest in terms of the number of people affected (the 2016 Yahoo breach compromised data associated with over 500 million user accounts compared to the 143 million people affected by the Equifax...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

FTC Settles GLBA Enforcement Action Against TaxSlayer Stemming From 2015 Data Breach

Ballard Spahr LLP on

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this week announced a consent order with TaxSlayer, LLC, an online tax preparation services provider, to settle claims that the company violated the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) Safeguards...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Security, Privacy and the...

Stolen Tax Returns? Virginia Seeks a Solution.

Did someone steal your tax return? You are not alone. Indeed, the rise in tax-related identity theft has been well documented. In 2015, the FTC reported a 50% increase in identity theft complaints. A primary cause for...more

Robinson+Cole Data Privacy + Security Insider

Eight Thousand Clients Affected by Data Breach at Two Massachusetts Accounting Firms

Two Massachusetts accounting firms separately recently notified the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General and the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation of data breach incidents at their firms, resulting in...more

Robinson+Cole Data Privacy + Security Insider

Treasury Inspector General Slams IRS for Lack of Strategy Following 2015 Data Breach

In a scathing report published on March 27, 2017, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration blasted the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) following its analysis of the IRS’ steps following a data breach in 2015 that...more

Robinson+Cole Data Privacy + Security Insider

2016 was the Year of the Data Breach

Although every year we lament about the significance of data breaches in the past year, 2016 was by far the worst. Data breaches were rampant, victimizing every industry and numbing consumers in the process. It was so bad...more

Nossaman LLP

IRS Data Breach Class Action Dismissed

Nossaman LLP on

Last week, the Internal Revenue Service successfully defeated a putative class action related to a data breach it suffered in 2015. The D.C. District Court’s decision dismissing the suit demonstrates the high bar required to...more

Robinson+Cole Data Privacy + Security Insider

Government report critiques the IRS’ handling of 2015 data breach

According to a government report publicly released last week, the IRS failed to adequately respond to a May 2015 cyber-attack on its “Get Transcript” application that potentially compromised at least 621,000 taxpayer...more

Robinson+Cole Data Privacy + Security Insider

Tidewater Community College hit with phishing scam exposing data of 3,193 employees

Tidewater Community College (Tidewater) has announced that the personal information, including names and Social Security numbers of 3,193 current and former faculty and staff members was compromised in a phishing scheme and...more

Robinson+Cole Data Privacy + Security Insider

Privacy Tip #28 – What do you do if you are a victim of IRS tax fraud?

It’s tax season. The dreaded April 15 federal tax filing deadline is looming. You try to be diligent, and you file your tax return early, hoping to get an early refund. But when you try to e-file your return, it gets rejected...more

Fisher Phillips

No April Fool's Joke: New Scam Targeting HR And Payroll

Fisher Phillips on

An unfortunate number of employers have recently fallen victim to a phishing scam that tricks them into disclosing highly sensitive employee information to unknown third parties. Make sure to warn your Human Resources and...more

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC

Fraud Alert: Computer Hackers Target HR and Payroll Departments – Guard Your W-2s!

Have you by chance recently received an email from your company’s CEO requesting copies of employee W-2 forms? If so, don’t respond without first verbally confirming that the request is legitimate. Several of our clients in...more

BakerHostetler

Don’t Get Phished! Hackers Pose as CEOs to Steal Tax Information from HR and Payroll Professionals at Healthcare Organizations

BakerHostetler on

Every tax season is plagued with scams to defraud individuals and companies for money from tax returns. However, this year has started off with a bang and this means that the healthcare industry has another reason to worry....more

Robinson+Cole Data Privacy + Security Insider

Regional Income Tax Authority in Ohio loses info on 50,000 people

The Regional Income Tax Agency of Ohio (RITA) announced on December 31, 2015, that it lost the personal data of approximately 50,000 individuals who filed tax forms with the agency in November. RITA provides tax collection...more

35 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide