IRS notifies taxpayers of security breach week before Tax Day

In a letter dated April 11, 2016, the US Internal Revenue Service wrote the following to taxpayers:

"The Internal Revenue Service places the utmost priority on safeguarding personal information and has strict policies and extensive computer security protocols in place to protect your privacy. We learned that criminal actors attempted entrance to the IRS Get Transcript application at IRS.gov, on or before May 25, 2015. At that time, access to that online system was shut down, however, the actors potentially obtained tax return transcripts that included your personal information, including Social Security number (SSN)."

Last year, millions of taxpayers had false returns filed when Blue Cross Blue Shield's computer security was breached, affecting current and former customers who had coverage up to 10 years prior to the breach. It is unknown how many false refunds cost the government, and the breach caused real taxpayer refunds to be delayed.

Today is Tax Day, so file your taxes today to avoid a penalty if you owe money, or file an extension.