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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Officials say an increase in fake tax returns could delay the processing of refunds for Utah taxpayers.
Authorities say the rise in fake filings has affected 18 states so far and prompted TurboTax to temporarily stop processing all state tax returns Friday.
The Utah State Tax Commission says criminals are using stolen personal information to file fake returns through the company's tax preparation software in an effort to steal refund money.
Commission spokesman Charlie Roberts says they've identified 28 fake filings so far and flagged 8,000 more as potentially fraudulent.
Extra screening to detect the fake returns probably will cause a delay in the processing of refunds.
Officials with Intuit, the company behind TurboTax, say they believe the personal information was stolen elsewhere and used to file returns with their software.
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