Tax-related identity theft rose 644%, IRS official says

BLOOMBERG NEWS
Tuesday, July 8th 2008, 11:21 AM

Tax-related identity theft grew more than seven times over a four-year period ending Sept. 30, according to a new report that said efforts by the Internal Revenue Service to deal with problem are further hurting victims.

Nina Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate, said in a report to Congress that identity theft is one of the biggest problems facing taxpayers today. She said her office handled 644 percent more cases in fiscal 2007 than in fiscal 2004 as crooks used stolen Social Security numbers to seek fraudulent refunds or employment.

Efforts by the IRS to combat the problem have resulted in delayed or frozen refunds for legitimate taxpayers or collection actions such as liens and levies. The IRS also has trouble preventing income, and tax liability, earned by workers using stolen Social Security numbers from being allocated incorrectly to the real owner of the number.

"While the IRS is reforming some aspects of its approach to identity theft, its procedures for dealing with victims have been a significant part of the problem," Olson said in the 156-page report released by the IRS today. The mid-year report is one of two required by law.

Olson also said the IRS must do a better job educating taxpayers about rules for avoiding taxes on forgiven debt.

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Businesses Falling Short Of Privacy Laws

July 7, 2008
Businesses Falling Short Of Privacy Laws
By Ana Patricia Ferrey, Inc.com

A growing number of businesses are struggling with increasingly complex privacy laws and often falling short of compliance when it comes to safeguarding consumer data, a new survey finds.
Despite boosting privacy protection budgets and enacting stricter policies, many high-earning companies still aren't meeting federal and state requirements, according to Iron Mountain, a Boston-based data protection firm.

In a recent survey of 115 professionals that oversee their company's privacy efforts, only 59 percent said they felt familiar enough with their state's privacy laws, while a third failed to recognize federal mandates on a questionnaire.

Colleen Langevin, a vice president at Iron Mountain, said it's no longer enough for companies to simply say they have a policy in place for destroying sensitive information.

"Now organizations must prove their policies and procedures actually work," Langevin said in a statement.

She said businesses must demonstrate efforts to document privacy policies, train employees, audit their behavior and oversee service providers.

The Federal Trade Commission's Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act, or FACTA, which includes stricter measures for safeguarding consumer data, is expected to go into force later this year.