Tax refund fraud associated with prisoner Social Security Numbers remains a growing problem for tax administration despite the Internal Revenue Service's efforts to curb it, according to a new government report. The report, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, marks the third in a series of audits TIGTA has conducted since 2010 that have documented alarming growth in prisoner tax refund fraud. The number of fraudulent tax returns filed using a prisoner's Social Security number that were identified by the IRS increased from approximately 37,000 tax returns in calendar year 2007 to more than 137,000 tax returns in calendar year 2012, TIGTA pointed out. The refunds claimed on these tax returns increased from $166 million to $1 billion.
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