Issue Number:    IR-2026-81

Inside This Issue

IRS, Security Summit launch summer series to help tax pros protect clients from identity theft

Protect Your Clients; Protect Yourself series runs for five weeks

IR-2026-81, July 7, 2026

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service and Security Summit partners today launched the summer “Protect Your Clients; Protect Yourself” campaign, a five-week series highlighting practical steps tax professionals can take to protect client data, their businesses, and themselves from evolving tax-related identity theft threats.

Now in its 11th year, the Security Summit brings together the IRS, state tax agencies, and the tax industry to combat tax-related identity theft. This year’s summer campaign will focus on emerging scams aimed at tax professionals, core security safeguards, and steps to take if a data theft occurs.

The campaign also coincides with the 2026 IRS Nationwide Tax Forums, where IRS and Security Summit partners will feature tax professional security tools and tips.  After the three-day forum in Chicago, the forums will continue Aug. 4-6 in New Orleans, Aug. 18-20 in New York City, Sept. 1-3 in Orlando, and Sept. 15-17 in San Diego.

The IRS reminds tax pros that registration deadlines are approaching for several of the forums, which will sell out.

"Tax professionals play a critical role in the line of defense against tax-related identity theft and attacks on the integrity of the tax system,” said IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano. “The 2026 summer series gives tax pros practical steps they can take now to protect client data, strengthen their businesses, and to stay ahead of scam artists and their evolving schemes to defraud taxpayers.”

“Tax professionals are trusted partners to millions of taxpayers, and protecting client data is essential to protecting the integrity of the tax system and ensuring taxpayers can file with confidence,” said Taylor Rodier, Security Summit partner and Legislative Affairs Manager at Drake Software. “Practical security steps, early reporting, and continued collaboration are among the best tools we have to fight tax-related identity theft, and we are proud to work with our Security Summit partners to help tax pros stay ahead of an ever-evolving threat landscape.”

Protect Your Clients; Protect Yourself – Week One: New and emerging scams targeting tax pros

The IRS and the Security Summit renewed warnings to tax professionals to stay informed about new and evolving schemes aimed at stealing business and taxpayer information.

Identity thieves continue to adapt their tactics, making it important for tax professionals to review security basics, train employees, and verify unusual requests before responding.

Key scams tax professionals should watch for:

• IRS impersonation by email, text, and phone. Scammers use email, text, direct messages (DMs), spoofed caller ID, and computer-generated calls to lure victims into clicking suspicious links, opening malware attachments or sharing sensitive financial information.
• Misleading tax advice on social media. Viral “tax hacks” can push taxpayers to file returns with false information or claim credits they don’t qualify for, leading to refund delays, audits, or penalties.
• “New client” schemes: In this form of spear phishing, fraudsters pose as prospective clients and send malicious links or attachments disguised as tax documents.
• EFINs, PTINs, CAF scams. Phishing attempts by scammers seeking identification numbers used by tax professionals, including their Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN); EFIN documents; their Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN); and their Centralized Authorized File (CAF) number.

Ways to avoid and report scams

Tax professionals who discover they are victims of a data breach should contact their local IRS Stakeholder Liaison to report a theft. The IRS Stakeholder Liaison will ensure the appropriate IRS offices are alerted. If incidents are reported quickly, the IRS can take steps to block fraudulent returns in the clients’ names and will assist tax pros through the process.

Tax professionals should also report incidents to the appropriate state tax agency by visiting the Report a Data Breach page hosted by the Federation of Tax Administrators.

Tax professionals should review the Federal Trade Commission’s Data Breach Response requirements as part of their written information and security plan.

Highlights of the remaining summer campaign

• Week two: Phishing, spear phishing, whaling and the “Security Six.” This news release highlights phishing scams and what the scams might look like and the “Security Six” protections to combat these directed attacks.
• Week three: Create a security plan. The release details the Written Information Security Plan that tax pros must have to keep customer and business information safe and secure.
• Week four: Tools to help Protect Your Clients; Protect Yourself. This release covers multi-factor authentication, Identity Protection PINs, IRS Online Accounts, Tax Pro Accounts, and other resources to safeguard taxpayers’ information.
• Week five: Signs of identity theft and reporting theft. The final release in the summer series focuses on the most common security threat: identity theft.

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