The Internal Revenue Service is getting ripped off.  Does that surprise you?  Do you know people who cheat on their taxes?  This is not about those who cheat on their taxes, but about those who steal identities to steal from the US Government!

The IRS estimates that it could hand out $26 billion in fraudulent tax refunds over the next five years due to increases in identity theft. 

One inspector for tax administration has identified 1.5 million potentially fraudulent tax returns in 2010, on top of what the IRS had already found.   Those additional returns could have cost the Treasury more than $5.2 billion. This according to thehill.com.

Obviously, the IRS does not know how many identity thieves are filing fraudulent tax returns or the amount of revenue being. 

Of the 2.2 million returns the IRS earmarked as fraudulent in 2011, roughly 940,000 involved identity theft, at a cost of $6.5 billion. The agency itself says that it prevented more than $14 billion in fraudulent refunds from being delivered that year.

With state and federal budget cuts everywhere this egregious amount of money needs to be located.  Ironically, the funds the IRS uses to catch these fraudulent claims is being stretched even farther, receiving roughly $11.8 billion this fiscal year, down from $12.1 billion in 2011. 

We are living in a vicious cycle of fraud and theft.  I would like to see the government mandate stop theft classes for all kids beginning in middle school.  We need to respect other people’s property. We need to resurrect the American Dream which is to use our opportunity to make money legally.