UPDATE: As of Sunday, Feb. 8, agents have given the green light to new TurboTax filings. The investigation is ongoing into the alleged fraud, but the new system in place is deemed secure for future filings.
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Original story: Internal Revenue Service agents are working with the State of Minnesota to halt TurboTax filings here after fraudulent returns, particularly state returns, have popped up over the last month.
According to the state and IRS press release:
“Some Minnesota taxpayers have recently found that when they log in to TurboTax to file their tax return, they see that a return has already been filed. Due to this potentially fraudulent activity, we have stopped accepting tax returns submitted using TurboTax.
We are still accepting returns filed with Intuit professional preparer products (Lacerte, Intuit Tax Online, and ProSeries). We are not affiliated with TurboTax, Intuit, or any other tax preparation software company.
There has not been a breach of Department of Revenue systems. Our priority is maintaining the security of private taxpayer data and preventing fraudulent activity within our system. We have sophisticated technology in place to safeguard private taxpayer information.
We are in contact with Intuit regarding this situation and will provide additional information as we learn more. Intuit TurboTax is setting up a dedicated phone number for impacted taxpayers. Beginning Friday, February 6, at 8 a.m. Central time, affected taxpayers can call 1-800-944-8596 to get personal assistance.”
Learn more about protecting yourself against identity theft and tax fraud by visiting the Identity Protection Tip page on the IRS website.