The Office of State Tax Commissioner has preventative measures in place to protect the state from issuing fraudulent refunds because of identity theft. Our office works alongside the IRS, other state agencies, and others in the tax industry to provide a safe taxpaying environment.
Taxpayers also play an important role in guarding their identity and preventing fraudulent refunds. Some things taxpayers can do include:
- File Early: Filing early offers protection against refund fraud by closing the window of opportunity a fraudster has to use your identifying information.
- Be Aware: Think twice before opening links in emails or sending identifying information, like social security numbers, via email.
- Safeguard your Information: Keep your social security number or business’ FEIN in a safe place.
If our office has reason to believe that you've been a victim of identity theft through a fraudulent tax return, we will contact you with a letter and recommended actions. You are encouraged to contact the following entities to report the theft of your identity:
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- Contact the IRS at 1-800-908-4490 for specialized assistance and to notify them of the identity theft to ensure they stop any fraudulent federal tax returns filed using your identity. You may be encouraged to complete Form 14039 – Identity Theft Affidavit.
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- Contact the FTC or call 1-877-438-4338 to obtain an Identity Theft Report and recovery plan. While the FTC does not require a police report, you may choose to file a report with your local law enforcement.
- Credit Bureau Contacts
- Contact the national credit bureaus to request fraud alerts, credit freezes (also known as security freezes), and opt outs from pre-screened credit offers.
- Equifax: 1-800-685-1111
- Experian: 1-888-397-3742
- TransUnion: 1-888-909-8872
- Contact the national credit bureaus to request fraud alerts, credit freezes (also known as security freezes), and opt outs from pre-screened credit offers.
- Financial Institutions
- Contact your financial institutions to make them aware that your identity may have been stolen.
Identity Theft Declaration
If you are a victim of identity theft, complete the Identity Theft Declaration and return it to our office.
Fraudsters continuously have new tactics to steal identities. In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of small to mid-sized businesses that have discovered data breaches. Fraudsters use the information they obtain for several things, including individual income tax refund fraud.
If you discover that your business has had a data breach, take the following steps:
- Follow North Dakota law on how to handle notices.
- Notice of a data breach should be sent to the IRS.
- Notice of a data breach should be sent to the Office of State Tax Commissioner’s Taxpayer Services:
- Email: taxidtheft@nd.gov
- Phone: 701-328-1242
- Notice of a data breach should be sent to all state tax agencies as criminals will use the information across the country:
- Email: StateAlert@taxadmin.org (the Federation of Tax Administrators will share the high-level information to all state tax agencies)
- Please include the company name, FEIN/PTIN, and a brief description of what happened.
- Email: StateAlert@taxadmin.org (the Federation of Tax Administrators will share the high-level information to all state tax agencies)
More information on how to respond to a data breach may be found on the Federal Trade Commission’s website.
The IRS shares more information regarding scams targeting businesses.