Department of Revenue
Helps Protect Identities
INDIANAPOLIS (Jan. 15, 2014) — The Indiana Department of Revenue announces the implementation of a new sophisticated protection program that will better protect taxpayers’ identities when filing their state income tax returns due in 2014. This program is implemented to help protect Hoosier’s identities at a time when identity theft crimes are a growing threat. More Americans’ identities were stolen in tax refund crimes in the first six months of 2013 than in all of 2012, and identity theft resulted in more than $24.7 billion in financial losses nationwide in 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“The identity protection program is a way the Department of Revenue is proactively protecting the identities and refunds of our Hoosier taxpayers,†said Commissioner Mike Alley. “The department is dedicated to protecting taxpayers’ identities while preventing refunds from being sent to identity criminals.â€
The department will be using the automated identity verification services of LexisNexis to help confirm the identities of all Hoosier taxpayers due a refund in 2014. Information will be submitted to the LexisNexis identity verification database. It is expected that more than 90 percent of all returns will be verified as a result of this process.
As an additional level of protection, some taxpayers will be selected to confirm their identities. Those selected will receive a letter from the Indiana Department of Revenue with instructions of how to take the Identity Confirmation Quiz. It is important that those required to take the quiz know they are not suspected of identity theft. This effort is designed to further protect taxpayers’ identities and tax refunds.
The quiz can be taken on a secure website hosted by the department or over the phone. It should take no more than two minutes. The department expects 95 percent of taxpayers taking the Identity Confirmation Quiz will confirm their identities.
Refunds—including the refunds of taxpayers who took the Identity Confirmation Quiz—should still be received within 10 to 14 days if the taxpayer electronically filed.
This new security measure is expected to prevent identity theft in Indiana, protecting taxpayers and saving Hoosiers millions of dollars.
The Indiana Department of Revenue and the Indiana Attorney General’s Office will continue to educate Hoosiers about ways they can protect themselves from identity theft this tax season.
To learn more about how to protect your identity during this tax season, visit www.in.gov/dor/4794.htm. Hoosiers can also sign up for the Attorney General’s ID Theft Protection Tool Kit at www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/2853.htm.
