IRS Changes to Help Prevent Scams in 2025
IR-2025-12, February 2025
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service and partners in the Coalition Against Scam and Scheme Threats (CASST) today released changes for the 2025 filing season designed to help protect taxpayers from becoming victims of a scam or scheme and preventing tax professionals from having their credentials compromised.
Fuel Tax Credit Scam
The changes to protect taxpayers include a new form involving the Fuel Tax Credit that’s designed to make it harder for well-meaning taxpayers to be misled into claiming the credit by promoters. This specialized credit that’s been promoted on social media is designed for off-highway business and farming use. Taxpayers need a business purpose and a qualifying business activity such as running a farm or purchasing aviation gasoline to be eligible for the credit. Most taxpayers don’t qualify for this credit.
“Other Withholding” Scams
The IRS is stepping up review on a variety of “other withholding” claims on Form 1040 that have been targets of scammers and schemers. Key forms covered by Line 25c, “Other Withholding,” include:
Form W2G, Certain Gambling Winnings
Form 8959, Additional Medicare Tax
Schedule K1, Partner’s Share of Income, Deductions, Credits, etc.
Form 1042-S, Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding
Form 8805, Foreign Partner’s Information Statement of Section 1446 Withholding Tax
Form 8288-A, Withholding on Dispositions by Foreign Persons of U.S. Real Property Interests
Ghost Preparers
The IRS is reaching out to taxpayers who have potentially been using “ghost preparers” to prepare tax returns. These preparers don’t identify themselves on the tax return, which is a red flag for taxpayers to be misled into a scam or scheme.
During the 2025 filing season, the IRS will send letters to taxpayers whose tax returns appear to have been completed by a paid tax preparer who did not sign or include their preparer tax identification number (PTIN) on the tax return. The letters are meant to educate the taxpayer about “ghost preparers” and to help the IRS identify those who are being paid to prepare returns and are not signing or including their PTIN on the return. The IRS continues to see instances where ghost preparers dupe taxpayers into filing inaccurate tax returns for bigger refunds. The preparers later vanish like a ghost, leaving the taxpayer exposed to inaccurate claims.
Preparer ID Numbers (PTINs)
During the 2025 filing season, the IRS will be working to add more protections for tax professionals. The protections will be aimed at protecting the tax professional’s electronic filing identification number or EFIN and PTIN from unauthorized use; more details on these will be available in the near future.
Stay Vigilant
Threats are present year-round, but the IRS and CASST members anticipate that misinformation spread by influencers and outright scammers will intensify around the 2025 tax season in an effort to persuade the public to take their bad advice.
Instead of looking to ill-informed information on social media or from shady tax return preparers presenting themselves as reputable tax professionals, a better option for taxpayers is to learn what scams are trending and to speak to a trusted tax professional.
Additional information on tax scams can be found at Tax scams, and victims of tax-related identity theft can visit Identity Theft Central.