The Kansas Department of Revenue on Thursday strongly cautioned taxpayers to remain vigilant in protecting their information from tax fraud scams aimed at stealing refunds or their identity.

Scams could come in the form of emails, phone calls, or letters. Often, the scammers use threatening and intimidating language to try to persuade recipients to share credit card, bank, and personal information. Recipients of suspicious correspondence should examine address labels, email addresses, website links (without clicking), and caller identification. Other scams target company human resources departments to collect employee information from W-2s or other tax documents.

Official Department of Revenue correspondence will always include the agency logo and phone number.

“The Department of Revenue takes taxpayer security very seriously,” David Clauser, KDOR Director of Taxation said. “We remain focused on alerting taxpayers to dangerous schemes and protecting the integrity of the state tax system.”

KDOR perpetually updates its systems and practices to remain ahead of the latest scam techniques used by purveyors of fraud. The department reviews every one of the 1.5 million tax returns filed every year for fraud.

In the case of a legitimate tax debt, the Kansas Department of Revenue will bill the taxpayer using official agency letterhead and always with a contact phone number. The department may also follow up by phone, in person, or through a recorded message, but will never threaten Kansas taxpayers with jail time or police involvement.

If Kansas taxpayers are approached by any suspicious individual regarding their tax information, they are strongly urged to contact the Kansas Department of Revenue immediately. Additional information on identifying tax scams can be found at https://ksrevenue.org/taxscams.html.