U.S. Attorney's Office for Southern District of Illinois issued the following announcement on July 15.
The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois remind taxpayers of the July 15 filing and payment deadline and warn against an increase in tax and COVID-19 scams.
Due to COVID-19, the original filing deadline and tax payment due date for 2019 was postponed from April 15 to July 15. Taxpayers filing Form 1040 series returns must file Form 4868 by July 15 to obtain the automatic extension to Oct. 15.
“Although the extension provides additional time to file the tax return – it is not an extension to pay any taxes due”, said Adam Steiner, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal
Investigation division in the St. Louis Field Office. “For people facing hardships who cannot pay in full, including those affected by COVID-19, the IRS has several options available to help. The IRS encourages taxpayers to visit IRS.gov as soon as possible to explore these options and avoid accruing interest and penalties after the July 15 deadline.”
As the filing deadline is today, taxpayers should beware of tax and COVID-19 related scams. “Criminals use the tax filing deadline as an opportunity to steal personal and financial information”, said U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft for the Southern District of Illinois. “Taxpayers should remain vigilant and know that the IRS will not initiate contact with them via phone, email or social media to request personal or financial information.”
In the last few months, the IRS Criminal Investigation division (CI) has continued to see a tremendous increase in a variety of Economic Impact Payment scams and other financial schemes. CI continues to work with its law enforcement partners to put a stop to these schemes and bring criminals to justice.
Original source can be found here.