TASCET’s Financial Iconn Eliminates Tax Return Fraud Schemes

MADISON, Wis. – TASCET (www.tascet.com), a company dedicated to consumer privacy, stated that its Financial ICONN^TM can be effectively used in the tax preparation industry to prevent multiple filings of tax returns by individuals engaged in fraudulent schemes.

Identity fraud related to tax returns has exploded over the past several years with staggering losses to U.S. taxpayers and the IRS. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George has testified that as much as $26 billion could be lost to tax identity fraud over the next five years.  Filing multiple false tax returns by the same individual presents the biggest challenge.  The IRS reported that in 2011 approximately 940,000 tax returns with $6.5 billion in refunds involved identity fraud.

Financial ICONN, introduced at FinovateSpring 2012 in San Francisco, provides powerful fraud prevention and investigation capabilities that have not been available in the tax preparation industry.  ICONN stops imposters from being able to file multiple tax returns using somebody else’s name, Social Security Number (SSN) and other personal information.

Tax preparers, using Financial ICONN, now have a tool that prevents multiple filings and restores privacy by safeguarding taxpayer information from being fraudulently used by another individual.

“In addition to being a consumer-focused tool, Financial ICONNalso acts as a proactive compliance mechanism,” said Brian R. Bodager, TASCET’s Chief Operating Officer. “Attention is shifting from individual taxpayers to the intermediaries who deal with hundreds or even thousands taxpayers. It is only a matter of time until stronger compliance requirements, similar to KYC in the banking industry, are imposed by regulators on tax preparation companies and the software that they use.”

The technology is consumer friendly and preparer integration is fast and inexpensive. Once a taxpayer’s Financial ICONN is activated by TASCET, the ICONN can be used for real-time identity verification when filing tax returns.

For tax preparers, Financial ICONN:

• Prevents identity-related tax fraud and stops multiple tax returns before they are filed
• Solves upcoming compliance and regulatory challenges
• Ensures the integrity and sustainability of the electronic filing system
• Strengthens reliance on SSNs for customer tax filing by providing a consistently accurate identifier that remains with the customer regardless of changes in name, address or filing status

For taxpayers, Financial ICONN:

• Protects from identity-related tax fraud
• Restores privacy and peace of mind

About TASCET

Founded in 2005 and based in Madison, WI, TASCET built an Identity Infrastructure that is available to organizations in the financial services, healthcare, education, cyber and government sectors.  The Identity Infrastructure serves as the backbone for Technology as a Service (TaaS), enabling businesses to confirm an individual’s identity as they move between organizations or industries. The Infrastructure helps organizations maintain data integrity, meet compliance challenges, and eliminate the use of government-issued identifiers while restoring consumer privacy. TASCET is non-transactional and does not data mine, sell information or monitor transactions. Visit www.tascet.com for more information.