Author: Kelly Phillips Erb

From January through April 2016, the IRS stopped $1.1 billion in fraudulent refunds claimed by identity thieves on more than 171,000 tax returns, a nearly 50% boost from last year’s dollars, announced IRS Commissioner John Koskinen today at a Security Summit update. The update featured appearances by Security Summit partners, including H&R Block CEO Bill Cobb; Intuit CEO Brad Smith; and GreenDot CEO Steve Streit.

In 2013, Acting Director of Exempt Organizations at IRS, Lois Lerner, apologized to tax lawyers for the IRS’s inappropriate targeting of political groups. Her comments set off a chain of events that would fire officials and consider impeachment proceedings for IRS Commissioner Koskinen’s actions.