IRS urges caution about imposter Internet sites
Comet staff report

The Internal Revenue Service is reminding taxpayers that the address of the official IRS government Web site is www.irs.gov.

Taxpayers may be confused by the proliferation of Internet sites that contain some form of the Internal Revenue Service name or IRS acronym with a .com, .net, .org or other designation in the address instead of .gov. Since many of these sites also bear a striking resemblance to the real IRS site, taxpayers may be misled into thinking that the site they have accessed is the official IRS government site. These sites are not the official IRS Web site and have no connection to the official IRS site or to the IRS.

Because .com, .net and .org are such common parts of Internet addresses, taxpayers may automatically or inadvertently type these extensions, instead of .gov, into the address line of their Web browser when trying to find the genuine IRS Web site.

Following recent concerns that Internet sites may be causing confusion among taxpayers, the IRS is working with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) on this matter. TIGTA has authority to review issues protecting the integrity of tax administration, including impersonation of the IRS. The IRS and TIGTA are committed to ensuring that taxpayers are not misled.

Although the IRS Web site offers interactive features, the tax or private financial information that these features ask the taxpayer for is extremely limited. The IRS reminds consumers who access unfamiliar sites, or sites they have never dealt with before, that they should never reveal any personal or financial information, such as credit, bank account or PIN numbers, without verifying the validity of the site.