Is the IRS tax debt forgiveness call a scam?
This is an urgent notification from the Tax Resolution Assistance Center. Our records show you carry an outstanding federal tax liability that qualifies for the National Tax Relief Program under the IRS Fresh Start initiative. You are pre-approved to settle for a fraction of what you owe, but this enrollment period closes Friday. Call 833-555-0142 now to speak with your assigned resolution specialist. Failure to respond may result in a federal lien or wage garnishment.
Scam. The IRS never calls to enroll you in anything, and this Fresh Start robocall is the front door of an offer-in-compromise mill, the scheme the IRS itself names in its Dirty Dozen list.
How to spot the IRS scam
What to do now
What it looks like on your phone
Got a call like this? Check the number free
Enter the number that called. Bewary checks FTC and FCC complaints and its scam lists, and gives you a straight answer and the reason why.
The detail behind this
Why each of those gives it away
No name, no tax year, no case number.
The real IRS opens with specifics because it has your file.
The caller is a 'Tax Resolution Assistance Center,' not the IRS.
Real IRS contact starts with a mailed notice, a CP14 with your balance on it.
'Enrollment closes Friday' is fiction.
Fresh Start is not a program with a window, it's IRS collection policy, in place since 2011.
Working through the steps
Don't press 1, don't call the 833 number.
Any response tags your line as live and earns you more calls.
Check your real balance at irs.gov/account.
Five minutes. Often it's zero.
If you do owe, the IRS offer-in-compromise pre-qualifier on irs.gov is free.
No middleman.
Report the impersonation to TIGTA at tigta.gov.
Read out your SSN? Get an IP PIN at irs.gov/ippin so nobody can file a return as you.
Sources and reporting
Use official channels to confirm a suspicious request and report fraud.