1040-ES/V Scam?

Client who mails quarterly estimates to IRS received, about three weeks ago, four blank forms labeled 1040-ES/V. I have not yet seen the forms. Mailing address is Charlotte, which is correct for this client. I have not heard of the IRS mailing blank vouchers to taxpayers for years.

Is this a scam or am I under-informed?

I have heard of the IRS mailing vouchers blank vouchers to taxpayers at the beginning of the year. If the address is correct, it's not a scam.

Well, yeah, but no for two decades!

If the address is correct, what's the potential scam that could occur?

CaptCook, my first thought was that, last year, the 1040-ES went to a different mailbox from the 1040-V. The IRS website was down when I was speaking to the client. Now that it's back up, I see that they go to the same place this year. I will see what the vouchers say on Tuesday, when client comes in.

I received them last year and again this year. Looks legitimate to me. I quit receiving them for a while; not sure why they started sending them again.

Mailing address is Charlotte, which is correct for this client.

That’s some scam! “I’m trying to steal your money, please send it directly to the IRS.”

Jeff, I do not know the actual address on the vouchers. The line was bad when I spoke with the client and he doesn't do e-mail. All I do know is that the address is in Charlotte. I will find out the address on Tuesday.

Seaside, interesting to note you have received them as well. That gives me a wee bit of comfort.

This reminds me. I received them in the mail too. Haven't for years, but they showed up this year.

Did your client have a large underpayment penalty last year? I have seen them send out vouchers when a taxpayer should be making estimates and doesn't.

I Receive Scams
POBox you pick it
Charlotte, NC.....

IRS doesn't have to mean what you think it means....!

irc162, no, he pays his quarterly estimates on time and has a couple of hundred dollars either way to balance up each year. Depends how his stock portfolio does.

JR1, you reminded me of the time there was mass theft of checks going to one of the Accounts Offices in the UK. Someone at the local post office realized that letters with a certain pre-printed address contained nothing but a check and a voucher. So they stole a selection and had others deposit them at a variety of banks, with quite creative alterations to the payee. After seven (yes, SEVEN) years, a teller thought one of the checks looked a bit suspicious, refused to deposit it and got the Branch Accountant (head teller) involved. Several dozen people went to jail. This was about thirty years ago. The Inland Revenue's response was to remove "Inland Revenue, Accounts Office B" from the pre-addressed envelopes they sent out, so that it just had the PO box, town and postcode. At that point I had to field lots of calls from clients who were convinced it was a scam.

Jeff, I do not know the actual address on the vouchers.

Ah, that changes everything. We must be dealing with a criminal mastermind. “Make your checks payable to the U.S. States Treasury and deliver them to a P.O. Box. Thousands of checks will come! I can’t wait until they start trickling in. No one will ever catch me.”

I Receive Scams

IRS doesn't have to mean what you think it means....!

Right! And make your check payable to the United States Treasury! Thousands of you! I’m going in every day to pick up those checks! No one will ever get me on camera! No one will ever catch me!

…the chances that these 1040-ES mailings were a scam is about 0%. For starters, I have a real strong suspicion that postal inspectors would have caught it before it arrived in your client’s mailbox.

But he might get away with it for 8 years before anyone notices....lol. And IRS is so far behind processing mail...who would suspect? lol

Jeff-Ohio, I refer you to my second paragraph in #12. If it can happen in England, it can just as easily happen here.

Billy McFarland, sole prop, d/b/a United States Treasury

Billy McFarland, sole prop, d/b/a United States Treasury

I've had several clients tell me they received preprinted vouchers recently.
We are instructed to make checks payable to United States Treasury for a reason.
Years ago it was Internal Revenue Service. People wrote checks to IRS. IRS was easily altered to MRS (add a name).

I've had several clients tell me they received preprinted vouchers recently.
We are instructed to make checks payable to United States Treasury for a reason.
Years ago it was Internal Revenue Service. People wrote checks to IRS. IRS was easily altered to MRS (add a name).

Okay...true story. I had a client who made out a large check to the IRS and put it in the collection box (at that time, there were still a few left). Someone blew a hole in the collection box and stole the mail. They changed IRS to Mrs. So and So., endorsed the check as Mrs. So and So, and tried to use it at a garage sale to buy antiques, jewelry and other such items. Turns out the person holding the garage sale was a County Probation Officer, who didn't need more than a glance to see that the check had been altered----not to mention trying to use a endorsed check at a garage sale. Seriously????

I have not seen preprinted vouchers in years but they may exist.

Has anyone tested the address bar code on these vouchers? The postal machinery reads that when it is present and directs mail according to that. If the bar code is legit, I would use the vouchers. I have a DYMO printer that I use to print mailing labels and it prints a bar code. If you have such a printer, make a label for the address on the voucher and compare the bar codes.