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IR-2020-143, July 8, 2020

WASHINGTON — As the tax-filing deadline fast approaches, the Internal Revenue Service reminds taxpayers with limited English proficiency and who have yet to file their 2019 tax returns that there are a variety of ways to get help and information in languages other than English.

“Providing additional materials in more languages to help taxpayers is a priority for the IRS,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “These resources are just a start for the IRS. In the months ahead, we will be working to add more material on IRS.gov. We also continue to work with our partners in the tax community to help translate and share more tax materials into different languages. For example, we are extremely proud to have material related to Economic Impact Payments translated into more than 30 different languages with the help of our partners.”

The IRS provides some tax information on its IRS.gov website in up to seven languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Vietnamese and Haitian-Creole.

To get information in one of these languages, taxpayers can click on the language dropdown tab at the top of IRS.gov pages. The tab displays the current language selection and other languages a taxpayer can choose to view translated content. IRS.gov pages translated into one or more languages also have links to available translations on the right side of the page, just below the title.

For example, the Let Us Help You page highlights IRS resources for taxpayers in six languages. This page offers information on notices, payments and numerous other topics. A helpful page for people wanting to plan for the future is the Steps To Take Now To Get A Jump On Next Year’s Taxes page, available in seven languages.

Other resources for people with limited English proficiency on IRS.gov include:

• IRS Free File for taxpayers with income of $69,000 and below, English and Spanish
• Direct Pay with Bank Account to pay your tax bill for free from your bank account, English and Spanish
• Check your refund status with Where’s My Refund, English and Spanish
• Information on Electronic Filing Options for Individuals, six languages
• Information on Reporting Phishing and Online Scams, six languages
• Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax, English and Spanish
• Answers to questions about tax relief related to COVID-19 and Economic Impact Payments, English and Spanish
• Free IRS2Go app for use on Apple and Android devices, English and Spanish

Watch out for scams targeted to non-English speakers

IRS impersonators and other scammers target people with limited access to information, including individuals not entirely comfortable with the English language. These scams are often threatening in nature and pose a major threat to these communities.

These scams frequently take the form of a “robocall” (a text-to-speech recorded message with instructions for returning the call), but in some cases may be made by an actual person. These con artists may have some personal data, including the taxpayer’s address, the last four digits of their Social Security number, among other things – making the calls seem more legitimate.

One common IRS impersonation scam involves the taxpayer receiving a telephone call threatening jail time, deportation or revocation of a driver’s license from someone claiming to be with the IRS. Taxpayers who are recent immigrants to the United States often are the most vulnerable and should ignore these threats and not engage the scammers.

People should watch out for scams using email, phone calls or texts related to the payments. Be careful and cautious: The IRS will not send unsolicited electronic communications asking people to open attachments, visit a website or share personal or financial information.

Information on how to Report Phishing and Online Scams is available in six languages.