Federal housing law
0721 Publ 5545 (PDF)
Federal housing law as enacted — verbatim and citable.
- Edition
- 2026-10-03
- Last updated
- 2026-10-04
- Jurisdiction
- United States
Official source: IRS Forms, Instructions & Publications (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5545.pdf), retrieved 2026-10-03. U.S. Government work (17 U.S.C. § 105).
Tips for Tax Pros to Combat Identity Theft¶
• Use multi-factor authentication to protect tax preparation software accounts.¶
All tax software providers now offer multi-factor authentication options, which require more than just a username and password to access accounts.
• Encourage clients to get an Identity Protection PINs. The IP PIN is a six-digit¶
number that is known only to the taxpayer and the IRS. It helps prevent an identity thief from filing a fraudulent return in the taxpayer’s name.
• Help clients fight unemployment compensation fraud. One of the larger scams¶
of 2020 involved identity thieves using stolen identities to file for unemployment compensation benefits with the states during the pandemic-induced economic downturn.
• Avoid spear phishing scams. Thieves take time to craft personalized emails to entice¶
tax professionals to open a link embedded in the email or open an attachment. For 2020, tax pros were especially vulnerable to spear phishing scams from thieves posing as potential clients.
• Know the signs of identity theft. These include multiple clients suddenly receiving¶
IRS letters requesting confirmation that they filed a tax return deemed suspicious. Tax professionals may see e-file acknowledgments for far more tax returns than they filed.
Publication 5545 (7-2021) Catalog Number 49674S Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service www.irs.gov