The incident raises many questions for taxpayers, including whether their personal data is at risk and whether it is safe to prepare or submit returns electronically.
The spate of fraudulent filings seems to have largely affected returns prepared using TurboTax, the states say. Last year, TurboTax products were used by 29 million customers, while H&R BlockĮach assisted with about seven million self-prepared returns. In some cases, the fraudulent state and federal filings include data apparently taken from TurboTax clients’ 2013 tax returns, according to state tax officials and taxpayers.
