NCL partners with Intuit Tax & Financial Center, Technology Policy Institute, and The Atlantic to examine consumer impact of tax identity theft – National Consumers League

January 29, 2015

Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy organization, in partnership with The Atlantic, Intuit Tax & Financial Center, and the Technology Policy Institute will today convene a gathering of leading experts in Washington to discuss the harm that tax identity fraud wreaks on consumers nationwide every year.

The event, “The Fight Against Fraud: Solving a $5 Billion Tax Challenge,” comes on the heels of a Federal Trade Commission report that tax-related identity theft was the most common form of identity theft reported to Commission in 2014. It also follows an earlier NCL analysis of FTC complaint data that found government documents or benefits fraud is by far the largest and fastest-growing category of identity theft complaints, increasing from 19.2% of identity theft complaints in 2010 to 46.4% in 2012. Tax or wage-related fraud complaints made up 93.5% of this category, up from 81.3% in 2010.

“Tax identity fraud is a particularly pernicious scam, since its victims often don’t realize that they’ve fallen prey to the scammers until well after the fraud is committed,” said John Breyault, NCL Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud. “While consumers can take steps to better protect their personal information, it is critical that the IRS, industry, and consumers work together to reduce the startling increase in this type of fraud.”

The event is open to the public. Speakers include Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Senator Mike Enzi (R-WV), Mary Louise Kelly, Contributing Editor of The Atlantic, Diana Leyden, Clinical Professor of Law and Director, Tax Clinic, University of Connecticut School of Law, Dean Silverman, Senior Advisor to the Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service, and Paul Weinstein, Director of the Graduate Program in Public Management, The Johns Hopkins University

For more information about the event, click here or contact Jessica Spiegel at jspiegel@theatlantic.com.

Where: The Newseum – Knight Broadcast Center
555 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC, 20001
When: Thursday, January 29, 2015
Guest Registration: 8:30 a.m.
Program: 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

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About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.