News release from Department of Revenue Services:
Department of Revenue Services Commissioner Kevin Sullivan today announced that the agency will contact some taxpayers to verify that refund requests were filed by those taxpayers.
Said Commissioner Sullivan, “While we want to get refunds into the hands of taxpayers as quickly as we can, recent events require that we implement new measures to ensure that refunds are not being stolen. We have been able to narrow a specific pool of questionable refunds to less than 1 percent of all of those requested. The final step is having taxpayers verify that they are the ones requesting the refund.”
Verification letters will be sent to the taxpayer address on file with the Department of Revenue Services (DRS) and will instruct taxpayers to go to the official DRS website at www.ct.gov/DRS. Only taxpayers whose refund requests are in question will receive a letter.
“Earlier this month, DRS responded to some suspicious refund requests by circumventing direct deposit and sending checks to the taxpayer address we have on file, said Commissioner Sullivan. “We have now received several calls and emails from individuals who said they did not file a 2014 Connecticut Income Tax Return, but got a check in the mail.”
Individuals who did not file a return, but received a check are asked to write “void” across the front of the check and mail it with a note of explanation to DRS at:
Connecticut Department of Revenue Services
SIS Division
25 Sigourney Street Ste. 2
Hartford CT 06106Taxpayers who try to file their income tax return and receive notification that a return has already been filed should contact the DRS Fraud Unit at 1-877-842-1441. They should also contact the IRS, the Federal Trade Commission, and their local police department to report the fraud.
If taxpayers learn their information has been compromised, but must still file a Connecticut income tax return, a paper return must be filed. Taxpayers may wish to include the federal Form 14039 Identity Theft Affidavit with their return.
