Connecticut Department of Revenue Services Commissioner Kevin Sullivan last month said the agency will contact some taxpayers by mail to verify their refund requests were filed by those taxpayers.
“While we want to get refunds into the hands of taxpayers as quickly as we can, recent events require that we implement new measures to ensure that refunds are not being stolen,” Sullivan said in a statement. “We have been able to narrow a specific pool of questionable refunds to less than 1 percent of all of those requested. The final step is having taxpayers verify that they are the ones requesting the refund.”
Verification letters will be sent to the taxpayer address on file with the Department of Revenue Services and will instruct taxpayers to go to the official DRS website.
Only taxpayers whose refund requests are in question will receive a letter.
“Earlier this month, DRS responded to some suspicious refund requests by circumventing direct deposit and sending checks to the taxpayer address we have on file,” Sullivan said. “We have now received several calls and emails from individuals who said they did not file a 2014 Connecticut income tax return but got a check in the mail.”
Individuals who did not file a return but who received a check are asked to write “void” across the front of the check and mail it with a note of explanation to the department.
The department also posted a fraud alert, saying, “Taxpayers who try to file their income tax return and receive notification that a return has already been filed should contact the DRS Fraud Unit at 1-855-842-1441. They should also contact the IRS, the Federal Trade Commission and their local police department to report the fraud.”
For taxpayers whose information has been compromised but who must still file a Connecticut income tax return, a paper return must be filed.
