IRS HAS PROCESSED NEARLY 40 MILLION TAX REFUNDS WORTH ALMOST $125 MILLION

FROM:  U.S. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
Tax Refunds Reach Almost $125 Billion Mark; IRS.gov Available for Tax Help

WASHINGTON — Almost 40 million tax refunds worth nearly $125 billion have been issued as of Feb. 20, according to Internal Revenue Service statistics released today. The average refund is $3,120.

The IRS has processed nearly 50 million returns, about one-third of the total individual federal income tax returns the agency expects to receive this year, with almost 83 percent of those returns resulting in refunds. More than 92 percent of refunds have been directly deposited into taxpayer accounts. The IRS recommends direct deposit as a safe, quick way for taxpayers to get their refunds.

The IRS also recommends taxpayers who have yet to file explore the numerous online tools and resources available on IRS.gov, which taxpayers visited almost 160 million times so far this year.

Longer wait times on IRS phone lines and at IRS offices mean it’s more important than ever for taxpayers to use IRS online tools and resources on IRS.gov.

IRS SAYS THINGS RUNNING SMOOTHLY

FROM:  INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE    
IRS Continues Smooth Start to Filing Season

WASHINGTON — The IRS announced today that, three weeks into the filing season, it has received about one-third of the individual income tax returns that it expects to receive during 2014. The IRS has processed almost 98 percent of the 49.6 million returns received so far. Each week this filing season, the IRS has processed a greater percentage of the returns received than during comparable weeks last year.

More taxpayers are filing their returns electronically this year. Overall, 46.6 million returns have been e-filed this year, up one percent from the same time last year. As in prior years, the greatest increase is among individuals filing from their home computers. Almost 22 million returns have been e-filed from home computers this year, an increase of almost 7 percent compared to the same time last year.

The IRS has issued more than 40 million tax refunds this year, an increase of more than six percent compared to the same time last year. Almost 90 percent of these refunds were directly deposited into taxpayers’ accounts.

MAN FACES PRISON SENTENCE, FINE FOR CLAIMING FALSE TAX REFUNDS

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Monday, December 9, 2013
Utah Resident Pleads Guilty to Filing False Claims for Tax Refunds Totaling $653,884

Stanley J. Wardle, 65, of Spanish Fork, Utah, pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City to nine counts of filing false claims for income tax refunds, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.  Wardle, who was indicted on Feb. 15, 2012, is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Dee Benson on Feb. 27, 2014.

According to the indictment, on or about Jan. 22, 2009, Wardle prepared and filed a false U.S. Individual Income Tax Return for the year 2008, in which he claimed a tax refund of $32,115.  In addition, between Dec. 8, 2008 and May 13, 2009, he caused additional false claims for tax refunds to be made on behalf of others.  In total, Wardle was involved in false claims for refunds totaling $653,884.

Wardle faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss caused by the defendant for each false claim charge.

Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally for the department’s Tax Division commended the special agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation who investigated the case, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Michael Romano and Stuart Wexler, who prosecuted the case.