Bad Tax Advice on Social Media Leads to Millions in IRS Fines

The IRS has assessed $162 million in penalties over false tax credit claims tied to social media scams, the agency said Monday.

The IRS said that since 2022, it has seen a surge in questionable refund claims fueled by misleading social media posts and bad actors posing as tax experts. The posts often falsely claim that all taxpayers are eligible for credits they don’t actually qualify for. These scams, which include those related to the Fuel Tax Credit and the Sick and Family Leave Credit, have led thousands of taxpayers to file inaccurate or frivolous returns, often resulting in the ...