IRS scrutinizing telephone refund requests

The Internal Revenue Service is taking additional steps to prevent abuse by tax preparers and help taxpayers make accurate requests for the one-time telephone excise tax refund.

This week, IRS Criminal Investigation special agents and IRS revenue agents are conducting special site visits with tax preparers across the nation to prevent inflated requests made for the one-time telephone tax refund. Visits began last week to 22 tax preparers, who have handled more than 1,500 tax returns.