**MEDIA ADVISORY**
Hatch To Convene Hearing On Efforts to Protect Utahns From Tax Fraud
WASHINGTON—Senator Orrin Hatch, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, will convene a hearing tomorrow to discuss new legislation he has proposed to protect American taxpayer’s identity from fraud and identity theft.
This year the Utah State Tax Commission flagged 8,000 returns as potentially fraudulent, as criminals targeted countless Utah families and in many cases, stole large sums of money. In March, Senator Hatch highlighted the story of the Degen family from Taylorsville, Utah, in a Finance Committee hearing on tax schemes and scams. The Degens were targeted by scam-artists who called and, impersonating police collecting back taxes, stole $15,800 of the Degens' life savings, which they had intended to use to purchase a new home.
Senator Hatch’s proposed legislation will enhance the controls used to access private taxpayer information and improve the overall security of the refund process, hindering scam artists' ability to use taxpayers' personal information to carry out fraud. The legislation has broad bipartisan support.
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