IRS, industry, states take new steps together to fight identity theft, protect taxpayers

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service has joined with representatives of tax preparation and software firms, payroll and tax financial product processors and state tax administrators to announce a sweeping new collaborative effort to combat identity theft refund fraud and protect the nation's taxpayers.

The agreement – reached after the project was originally announced March 19 – includes identifying new steps to validate taxpayer and tax return information at the time of filing. The effort will increase information sharing between industry and governments. There will be standardized shari...