Did You Say I Have to Take a Quiz to Get My Ohio Tax Refund?

Published on April 27, 2015 by Steve Bailey in Firm News, Tax Services

You read that correctly.  You may need to take an identity confirmation quiz in order for your Ohio tax return to be processed and your refund issued if you were one of the lucky selected individuals.  “Last year, The Ohio Department of Taxation (ODT) intercepted an unprecedented number of fraudulent income tax returns seeking to steal refunds totaling more than $250 million.”  As you can see from the dollar amount of the intercepted fraudulent refunds, a mechanism to combat the identity theft issue was needed that was comprehensive and able to be quickly implemented.

Combatting Identity Theft

The Internal Revenue Service and the Ohio Department of Taxation have instituted measures to combat against identity theft and income tax fraud.  This quiz is one of those measures.  The quiz is a real tool being used by the state of Ohio.  If you received a notification letter, you must complete the identity theft quiz within 60 days from the date of the letter.  Ideally you will complete this quiz online at tax.ohio.gov.  You will get two tries to take this timed test.  You must answer 3 of the 4 questions correctly in 5 minutes.  The questions are specific to the individual that receives the notification.  The questions are compiled from public and commercial sources.  If you fail the quiz or choose not to take the quiz, you must provide the following information to the state of Ohio to confirm your identity by fax or mail:

• A picture ID,
• A copy of your birth certificate or a copy of a current utility bill
• A copy of your social security card,
• 2014 tax information including copies of W2s and K-1s
• Page 1 and Page 2 of your federal 1040, and
• A copy of the identity confirmation quiz letter.

You may also contact the Ohio personal income tax identity theft confirmation unit at 1-855-855-7579 if you fail the quiz. If you are unable to pass the quiz and the representative is unable to assist you, then you will need to forward all of the aforementioned information in order for your tax return and refund to be processed.  This process is expected to delay refunds issued by the state of Ohio.

Information required to complete the quiz includes the following:

• The reference number from the letter
• The refund amount requested less any credit carry forward applied to 2015Please note that you may receive more than one identity confirmation quiz if you file additional returns.

 

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