Consumers are being encouraged to be vigilant when managing their US taxes, after the IRS highlighted a new email phishing scheme, which falsely claims to be from the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS).

The new scam features and email which appears to be from the government body and includes a false case number.

The phishing emails include links which recipients are directed to click for more information about the ‘advocate’ assigned to their case where they are given the opportunity to “review reported income”. By clicking on these links, recipients are taken to pages which solicit personal information.

IRS Advice: Do Not Respond

The emails are also reported to include the message: “Your reported 2013 income is flagged for review due to a document processing error. Your case has been forwarded to the Taxpayer Advocate Service for resolution assistance. To avoid delays processing your 2013 filing contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service for resolution assistance.”

The IRS is advising any US taxpayers who receive one of these emails, or any they suspect to be a phishing email, to not respond and instead forward the scam emails to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.

In a recent news alert the IRS stated: “The Taxpayer Advocate Service is a legitimate IRS organization that helps taxpayers resolve federal tax issues that have not been resolved through the normal IRS channels. The IRS, including TAS, does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email, texting or any social media.”

For more information on phishing scams and how to avoid them, visit the IRS’s Report Phishing web page, read its guide to the ‘Dirty Dozen’ scams or read our recent post on IRS scammers.

If you have any questions regarding suspicious mail referring to your US tax obligations or general questions about US tax reporting contact us or call us on +44 20 7357 8220.