The IRS’s 2026 “Dirty Dozen” scam list is out — and AI is the new trick.

Every filing season the IRS publishes its Dirty Dozen — the twelve scams most likely to cost you money or your identity. This year’s list has a new star: AI-generated voice calls that sound exactly like a federal agent.

The IRS released its annual Dirty Dozen list for 2026 in March, as the April 15 deadline approached — twelve scams the agency says taxpayers and businesses should watch for. The list is compiled with the Security Summit partnership of the IRS, state tax agencies, and the tax industry, and it’s tied to National Slam the Scam Day. IRS chief executive Frank J. Bisignano’s warning was blunt: scammers constantly change tactics to trick taxpayers.

This year’s headliners are impersonation scams — and they’re smarter than ever.

What’s on the 2026 list

• IRS impersonation by email and text. Messages that look like they’re from the IRS — often with QR codes or links to fake websites — directing you to “verify” your account with personal information.
• AI-enabled phone scams. Robocalls and spoofed caller IDs that look legitimate, some using computer-generated voices. The IRS generally contacts people by mail first and doesn’t leave threatening voicemails or demand immediate payment.
• Fake charities that pop up after disasters to collect donations and personal data. Only contributions to IRS-recognized tax-exempt organizations qualify for a deduction.
• Misleading tax advice on social media. Viral “tax hacks” pushing credits and deductions you don’t qualify for. The IRS reported more than 600 social media impersonators in 2025 alone.
• Identity theft involving IRS online accounts — criminals using stolen information to access taxpayer accounts.
• Abusive Form 2439 claims — a new addition to this year’s list: fabricated or overstated “undistributed long-term capital gains” credits used to manufacture refunds.
• Bogus “self-employment tax credit” promotions promising refunds based on credits that don’t exist.
• Ghost preparers who prepare returns but refuse to sign them or provide a Preparer Tax Identification Number.
• Inflated non-cash charitable deductions — think wildly exaggerated appraisals of donated property or art.
• Overstated withholding schemes — falsifying withholding amounts to inflate a refund.
• Spear-phishing and malware targeting tax professionals and their clients.
• “OIC mills” — companies marketing Offers in Compromise with promises of settling tax debt for pennies. Settling IRS debt is real, but anyone promising a specific outcome before reviewing your file is selling you something.

The one rule that kills 90% of these scams

The IRS initiates contact through the mail. Not by text. Not by email. Not with a voicemail threatening arrest. If someone reaches out demanding money or personal information, stop, hang up, and verify through IRS.gov or your own online account — never through a link they sent you.

Why this matters if you owe the IRS

Scammers don’t target people at random — they target people who are worried. If you owe back taxes, you’re more likely to believe a caller who says they can make it go away, and more likely to panic at a fake “final notice.” Current 2026 schemes include fake “latest tax summary” emails with harmful download links, “refund blocked” emails asking you to “verify” bank details, fake audit letters telling you to call a private number immediately, and copycat direct-deposit notices asking for banking data by phone or text.

If you genuinely owe the IRS, the real options — installment agreements, penalty abatement, Offers in Compromise — don’t arrive by text message. They start with your actual account transcript and a signed engagement letter.

Alex Volkov, CPA is a New York-licensed CPA with over two decades in accounting, focused on resolving IRS tax problems — back taxes, liens, levies, garnishments, and audits — for individuals and businesses nationwide.