The IRS listed fake IRS messages, shady preparers and abusive Form 2439 claims on its 2026 Dirty Dozen list. The agency says it generally contacts taxpayers by mail first and it does not call demanding immediate payment or threaten arrest. Bbb warns that AI-enabled robocalls, spoofed caller IDs, fake social media accounts and replicated websites are making scams harder to spot during the conventional tax-filing deadline.
IRS 2026 Dirty Dozen List
The 2026 Dirty Dozen list specifically calls out fake IRS messages, bad tax advice, shady preparers and abusive IRS Form 2439 claims for undistributed long-term capital gains, and those items can expose a person’s Social Security number, compromise an IRS account, create a false return or leave a taxpayer legally responsible for deductions and credits they should not have claimed, which places people under filing-pressure who seek quick help at particular risk of identity theft and erroneous tax liability.
Allen Harris Defensive Tactics
Allen Harris, owner of Berkshire Money Management in Great Barrington and Dalton who manages more than $1 billion of investments, urged readers to verify tax advice and use defensive tactics and wrote "Did I just get scammed?" and warned that "The “best” scams trigger emotions, frame urgency, and dress up the mundane as an exciting opportunity," and he further advised that "The IRS is never going to pressure you to do something immediately; it does not take long to attain verification."
Form 2439 Abusive Capital Gains
The article advises concrete steps taxpayers can take now: create an IRS account yourself, use a preparer who signs the return and has a PTIN, never sign a blank return, and if you already sent money or information to a scammer stop communicating immediately, do not send any more money or information, contact your bank, credit card company or brokerage firm right away if an account, payment or transfer is involved, and keep records of suspicious messages, letters and contacts for evidence and recovery efforts.
One unanswered question the article does not resolve is how many taxpayers these 2026 Dirty Dozen schemes have targeted this filing season and whether the IRS will publish a case count or additional verification tools before the conventional tax-filing deadline.
