The State Comptroller of Maryland Peter Franchot has recently issues a warning to the people of Maryland to be careful about a scam that involves “fraudulent notices to estate tax filers from a company alleging to be a collectors firm working for the agency.” The scam itself is being spread through fake letters. The fake letters are being sent to the personal representatives of the estate claim that the estate owes unpaid taxes to the IRS and the company is collecting those taxes on behalf of the IRS. The letters also urge the personal representative of the estate to obtain a loan or the IRS will place a lien on the taxpayer’s bank accounts. The letter also threatens the taxpayer of the possibility of wage garnishment.
Comptroller Franchot decried the actions of whoever was responsible for the letters and said, “[t]he Comptroller’s Office does not use outside collections agencies for settling estate tax liabilities.”
See Comptroller Warns Taxpayers of New Estate Tax Scheme, MyEasternShoreMD.com, Jan. 31, 2013.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
