IRS tax return fraud

[Tykimeister]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Wichita, Kansas

My girlfriend of about 6 months is a Kenya runner studying in the US on an athletic scholarship. She just told me last night a sad story that I think something needs to be done about. Another Kenya runner insisted that she let him do her 2009 taxes for her. My girlfriend is kind of a push over and ended up letting this guy prepare her taxes for her in April of 2010. She started getting worried when she never recieved her check in the mail, along with other bogus stories in regard to this whole ordeal. It turns out this man forged her signature on her tax form and filed the taxes. She had no idea how much she was even supposed to get back. The man finally transfered her $400, and said that was it.

She called the IRS and got a print out of the transcript. From the earnings she made and tax credits for her schooling, she was supposed to get $1,900 back. Turns out this man lied to her and stole most of her money.

From what I know:
She never signed her tax form
She never entered a pin on an online vender for preparing taxes
She was never told how much she was supposed to get back, until she called the IRS
She just made a mistake and gave her information to another person


Should she be contacting the IRS? Should she call the police and make a report? Small claims court?

The man who did this to her is from Kenya, used to run on a scholariship, but now just goes to school in the US. Obviously on a college visa, im sure. They both used to run together at a university in Kansas. My girlfriend still lives in Kansas and he now goes to school in Indiana.

I'm not too sure what I should advise her to do.
Thanks.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Wichita, Kansas

My girlfriend of about 6 months is a Kenya runner studying in the US on an athletic scholarship. She just told me last night a sad story that I think something needs to be done about. Another Kenya runner insisted that she let him do her 2009 taxes for her. My girlfriend is kind of a push over and ended up letting this guy prepare her taxes for her in April of 2010. She started getting worried when she never recieved her check in the mail, along with other bogus stories in regard to this whole ordeal. It turns out this man forged her signature on her tax form and filed the taxes. She had no idea how much she was even supposed to get back. The man finally transfered her $400, and said that was it.

She called the IRS and got a print out of the transcript. From the earnings she made and tax credits for her schooling, she was supposed to get $1,900 back. Turns out this man lied to her and stole most of her money.

From what I know:
She never signed her tax form
She never entered a pin on an online vender for preparing taxes
She was never told how much she was supposed to get back, until she called the IRS
She just made a mistake and gave her information to another person


Should she be contacting the IRS? Should she call the police and make a report? Small claims court?

The man who did this to her is from Kenya, used to run on a scholariship, but now just goes to school in the US. Obviously on a college visa, im sure. They both used to run together at a university in Kansas. My girlfriend still lives in Kansas and he now goes to school in Indiana.

I'm not too sure what I should advise her to do.
Thanks.

To start with he clearly took advantage of her and clearly violated tax laws.

I have some real concern however, for your girlfriend. If she is not a US citizen or green card holder he may have given her a refundable education credit that she was not entitled to receive and that could be very problematic for her. In fact, she might not have been eligible for an education credit even if it wasn't refundable. I cannot be certain without doing research and at this time of the year, I don't have time to do unpaid research. Unfortunately my practice hasn't included any student visa holders in quite some time.

I do think that she needs to take some action on this, if for no other reason that to protect herself, but unfortunately I think that she needs the advice of both a tax attorney and an immigration attorney, and that is going to cost money.

I also think its highly likely that he did the same thing to other people as well.

If you turn on your private messages and send me a private message, I can refer you to a forum where there is a retired tax attorney who does quite a bit of research, even during the tax season, to answer complex questions.

 

[davew128]

Contact TIGTA. This falls under their jurisdiction.

 

[musicman654321]

The story makes no sense though. How can she be expecting a tax refund if she did not sign the tax form.

 

[davew128]

The story makes no sense though. How can she be expecting a tax refund if she did not sign the tax form.

Did you actually read the post? She likely knows nothing about the tax system.

 

[Zigner]

Did you actually read the post? She likely knows nothing about the tax system.

Much as MM seems to know nothing about the legal system...