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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Tax Season is Here, and So are Scams

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Monday, February 23, 2015   

LANSING, Mich. - Tax season is under way, with Forms 1099 and W-2 already in mailboxes and the Internal Revenue Service has also issued its annual list of the most common tax-related scams, called the dirty dozen.

At the top of the list is identity theft, followed by potential tax swindles pitched by phone and email.

Mike Dobzinski, media relations with the IRS, says to beware of IRS imposters telling you something like this ...

"'You owe X amount of dollars. If you don't pay up, we're going to arrest you, take you to jail. We'll deport you, revoke your license,' and a whole bunch of threatening tactics," says Dobzinski. "The IRS just doesn't make these kinds of calls."

Other tax deceptions on the dirty dozen list include schemes to hide money offshore, and false promises of free money for inflated refunds. Of the identity theft cases it tracks, the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Sentinel Network says in 2013, 30 percent were related to tax or wage fraud.

Dobzinski says with personal information on W-2 forms and others in mailboxes this time of year, it isn't hard for scammers to steal it and even attempt to file taxes in your name to claim your refund before you can get to it.

"I recommend contacting Internal Revenue Service, if you get a letter that's addressed incorrectly to you, to contact us," says Dobzinski. "It's possible that a return has been filed in your name. You may not know that, but that may be the first tip-off."

Dobzinski says the IRS also has made a special effort to alert businesses with large databases to take extra steps to protect client data.


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