Patch lady – Make sure your 1099s are private

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A bit off topic to patching – and very much USA centric at this time.  I’ll urge you to review your tax notices that you should have received – or are
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Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Lori, JSTechGeek, SueW, wdburt1, abbodi86, woody, Lars220, Elly, OscarCP, Kirsty

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Thanks Susan, excellent advice. Also, it is a good idea to file early before scammer do it for us. Here are some interesting links to review:

https://www.fightingidentitycrimes.com/tax-fraud-scammers-ramp-up-their-tactics-in-2019/

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-do-you-report-suspected-tax-fraud-activity

 

Amazing Truths Revealed: Link to Simply Magnificent AskWoody Knowledge Bases

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SueW, woody, OscarCP

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Susan, would changing mailboxes be an option? In Holland where I live, most people who have a mailbox outside their house have one with a lock on it. See https://discountoffice.nl/p/ub-529734-standaard-brievenbus-staalplaat-en-13724-hxbxd-330/. The mailman can use it no problem, but unauthorized access by a stranger is not possible.

~ Annemarie

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Sounds like a problem with how the US handles security and privacy of its citizens during tax season. In Canada our mailboxes are locked. Also, the US should seriously change its usage of social security numbers to something more secure. CGP Grey did a great video on how insecure those numbers are. With social security numbers so easily guessable it’s a wonder more people don’t fall victim to identity theft in the US.

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Annemarie, your link is not viewable to anyone outside the Netherlands.

I get a 403 error with the long link and even when I shortened it to https://discountoffice.nl/

Got coffee?

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Curious… US here, and link is okay for me…? I need to translate to English, but otherwise fine?

Non-techy Win 10 Pro and Linux Mint experimenter

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Consider signing up for USPS Informed Delivery if you live in the USA and it is available in your area. You also can elect to receive an email message on any day USPS expects to deliver mail addressed to you. The message includes image snapshot attachments for the first three items. The rest are available from their site’s login.  The message starts something like this:

Informed Delivery Daily Digest
USPS <USPSInformedDelivery@usps.gov>
COMING TO YOUR MAILBOX SOON.

View all mail on dashboard >

HP Compaq 6000 Pro SFF PC / Windows 10 Pro / 22H2
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SueW, b

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EyesOnWindow, great tip. I use it and find it very helpful, especially if I’m expecting something like a check or other important document.

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I am fortunate that I happen to have a locking mailbox. They are great.

Group A | Windows 7 Pro 64-bit | Windows 10 Pro 1809 64-bit

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TaskForce141

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FYI,  to reduce the refund fraud from phony returns using identity theft and wildly false W-2 income data, the IRS asked Congress to restore the old timelines for employer submission of W-2.  The fraudulent returns worked because Congress (stupidly) wanted the IRS to issue refunds, before receipt of employer W-2 data that validates the refund claims.   It was a giant hole and the criminals took full advantage of it for years.

With fraud reaching the low single $billions, Congress agreed in Dec. 2015.  This provision, which took effect in 2017 (when people were filing their 2016 tax returns), postponed many refunds for about two weeks.  No refund will be made to a taxpayer before February 15, if the taxpayer claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit on the return, the two credits most exploited by fraudsters.

That gives employers sufficient time to send their W-2 data to the IRS.  And allow the IRS to match the real W-2 numbers with those on incoming returns, stopping many of the phony claims for giant EITC/ACTC refunds.

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