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State Comptroller Webfile Outage
We are experiencing an outage with our Webfile eSystem. Users are currently unable to access Webfile. We are working to resolve this issue and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. As a result of the outage we are experiencing extremely high call volumes and some callers may receive a busy signal.

Tax prep software sent back personal consumer data to Meta and Google, report says Sending such information violates Meta's policies and a spokesperson said its system is designed to filter out potentially sensitive data.

“When the IRS needs to contact a taxpayer, the first contact is normally by letter delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. Debt relief firms send unsolicited tax debt relief offers through the mail. Fraudsters will often claim they already notified the taxpayer by U.S. Mail.”

Everyone should know the facts about how the IRS communicates with taxpayers | Internal Revenue Service Tax Tip 2022-173, November 10, 2022 — Knowledge is a taxpayer’s first line of defense against scammers who pretend to be from the IRS with the goal of stealing personal information.

News from the Justice Department’s Tax Division
A Florida couple was sentenced to prison for their participation in a scheme to file four fraudulent loan applications seeking more than $1.1 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

According to court documents and statements, Thomas Smith, of Pewaukee, WI, fraudulently sought over $1.2 million in PPP loans through applications to a federally insured financial institution on behalf of eight different companies. According to his plea agreement, Smith caused to be submitted fraudulent loan applications containing numerous false and misleading statements about the companies’ respective payroll expenses. Based on these representations, the financial institution approved and funded over $1 million in loans. Smith then directed his co-conspirators to send him portions of the PPP funds. In addition to the prison sentence, Smith was ordered to pay $960,000 in restitution.

The United States filed a complaint against Wendell Devallon, Berald Dominique, and Tax Time Group Inc. seeking to enjoin them from preparing returns for others. The complaint alleges that Devallon and Dominique co-own Tax Time Group Inc., which has its principal place of business in North Lauderdale, Florida, and additional offices in Charlotte, North Carolina; Niagara Falls, New York; Buffalo, New York; and Evansville, Indiana. According to the complaint, defendants prepared tax returns for customers that claimed fraudulent self-employment expenses, fictitious education credits, and fake charitable contributions, among other schemes. The complaint also alleged that Devallon and Dominique acted as “ghost” preparers, meaning that they acted as paid tax return preparers but did not sign the returns they prepared, as required by law.