Fraud - Excess Withholding; Deposit in Preparer's Account

[zeros]

Reading about different fraudulent things being done by preparers. I noticed that one of the gimmicks being used is re-doing the w-2 and claiming excess withholding. I thought that was one of the things that IRS had good control on. Aren't these matched to the employer's copy? Also, they are taking the taxpayers refund after they modified the return and depositing it in their account. Not sure here how closely the banks and financial institutions watch this. Apparently not very close.

[Gary2]

The due date for employers to e-file the W-2/W-3 with the SSA is March 31, and then it takes time to go from the SSA computers to the IRS computers. So there's no way the IRS can match a W-2 claim on a return filed late Jan or early Feb against the employer's version prior to issuing the refund.

[ChEAr$]

The due date for employers to e-file the W-2/W-3 with the SSA is March 31, and then it takes time to go from the SSA computers to the IRS computers. So there's no way the IRS can match a W-2 claim on a return filed late Jan or early Feb against the employer's version prior to issuing the refund.

And the crooks know it.

The gobment should require all W2's to be finished and filed by January 31, whether by paper or efiled. And IRS should not begin filing season before February 1st.

But then, I'm not king.