Technology

Tax pros and their clients are putting themselves at risk, because e-mail is not secure.

The Internal Revenue Service’s new security measures this tax season to counter identity theft and tax fraud appear to be having little impact so far on criminals, according to a security expert who monitors the online chat rooms where fraudsters swap taxpayers’ sensitive personal and financial information.

The Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday evening its tax-processing systems have suffered a hardware failure and that tax processing could be affected into Thursday.

Taxpayers are increasingly aware of identity theft-related tax fraud this year and are concerned about becoming victims, according to a new survey.

The American Institute of CPAs is encouraging firms to modernize the way they conduct audits by using data analytics technology and working to improve the way employee benefit plan audits are conducted in response to a critical Labor Department report.

American Institute of CPAs president and CEO Barry Melancon said the AICPA is pushing the Internal Revenue Service to improve its services for both taxpayers and CPAs while preparing to become a more international organization.

The Internal Revenue Service is urging all tax preparers to do a thorough security scan of their computer drives and devices in case there is any malware lurking.

Intuit announced security enhancements across its suite of professional tax products, including Intuit Tax Online, ProSeries and Lacerte, as part of the company’s continued work with the IRS, states and industry to combat tax fraud.

Growth, collaboration, and a concentration on fraud and data security will be impactful nonprofit accounting trends in 2016, according to nonprofit software provider Abila.

The Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday that taxpayers are receiving letters with the wrong date listed for their Identity Protection Personal Identification Numbers, which are generally issued to victims of tax-related identity theft.