Fraud schemes purporting to involve the Internal Revenue Service always proliferate this time of year, as homeowners and other taxpayers seek to raise their deductions and boost their refund.
Q. I received an e-mail that is supposedly from the Internal Revenue Service, stating that a review of its books indicates that I am owed an additional refund for the tax return I completed last year. The e-mail says the IRS will send me a check if I can verify a few pieces of information, including the account number of my mortgage loan, the PIN number I use to pay my loan online and also my Social Security number. Is this e-mail legitimate?
A. Absolutely not. The IRS never sends out e-mails or text messages, an agency representative says. Nor does it ask for detailed personal and financial information, such as a password or personal identification number you use to access online banking or other accounts.
And as for the request to supply your Social Security number: If anyone knows your nine-digit number better than you, it's the IRS. There's no reason for the agency to ask you to confirm it.
Tax and identity-theft scams always proliferate this time of year, as homeowners rush to complete their individual returns by the April filing deadline and desperately look for every money-saving write-off. Many of the schemes originate on the Internet and often direct the e-mail recipient to an official-looking website or to call a toll-free phone number to provide the so-called necessary information in order to claim the additional refund or deductions.
If you fall for the ruse, the information then quickly can be used to steal your identity and empty your bank accounts.
To protect yourself, the IRS says you should never reply to an e-mail or text message claiming to be from the agency and never open any attachment found in one of these e-mails, because it could contain a computer virus.
Also remember that the only official IRS website is www.irs.gov. Fake ones end with ".com,"".org,"".net" or other designations.
Finally, if you instead get a phone call or letter purporting to be from the agency, refuse to provide any personal information until you first call the IRS at 800-829-1040 to ensure that the contact is legitimate. Don't confuse this phone number with others, many of which are nearly identical but are operated by identity thieves and other scamsters.
Q. Dave, what is the most expensive housing market in the U.S.? My wife says it must be Manhattan or Palm Beach (Florida), but I say that it must be Beverly Hills or maybe Malibu, Calif. We have a rib dinner bet on this, and you are the judge!
A. Sorry, but "Judge Dave" rules that both of you will be treating yourselves to homemade meatloaf or TV dinners tonight.
The priciest housing market in the nation is now Aspen, Colo. Public records show that the average home price in the resort community, which includes expansive ranches and glitzy condominiums owned by Hollywood stars, climbed to $6 million last year from $5.4 million in 2006. And the median price for a single-family home -- the figure at which half of homes sell for more and the other half goes for less -- is $4.6 million, a new report from the respected Altos Research in San Francisco says.
A recent check of the Multiple Listing Service, which real estate agents use to market properties for sale, showed that the cheapest single-family home that was available in Aspen was priced at $559,000. It is in a trailer park.
Q. My wife and I purchased our home as joint tenants in 1991, so I automatically inherited her one-half interest in the property when she passed away in 2004.Now I want to sell, but her name is still on the title. Will this cause a problem when I find a buyer and try to close the sale?
A. It shouldn't cause a major problem, but you probably will have to do a little extra paperwork.
In most states, a living spouse who wants to have a deceased spouse's name removed from the title to a home must file a certified copy of the death certificate with the county recorder or similar government agency. It must usually be accompanied by a document, often referred to as an "affidavit of survivorship."
You can get more information from the recorder's office, or from the escrow officer or closing attorney who will coordinate the upcoming sale. Although you could begin filling out the additional documents after you have found a buyer, it would be better to start the process now to help ensure that your eventual closing will go as smoothly and quickly as possible.
Our booklet "Straight Talk About Living Trusts" explains how even low- and middle-income homeowners can now reap the same benefits that creating an inexpensive trust once provided only to the wealthiest families.
* For the booklet "Straight Talk About Living Trusts," send $4 and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to David Myers/Trust, P.O. Box 2960, Culver City, CA 90231-2960
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