As Tax Day approaches on April 15, millions of Americans are preparing to file their taxes...while scammers are exploiting the opportunity to take advantage. Victims have reported receiving fraudulent letters under the guise of the IRS, requesting personal information for fake refunds. With advances in AI, such sophisticated scams are on the rise, leading to a 14% increase in reported losses over the past year.
Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to offer insight and analysis on what to keep in mind as Tax Day approaches, including how to spot scams. If you would like to speak with an expert, please contact GW Media Relations at [email protected].
Tax Experts
Steven Hamilton is an Assistant Professor of Economics at The George Washington University. His primary area of research is public finance, where he studies the effects of taxes on behavior with a view to designing better tax policy. In recent research, he investigates the degree to which taxpayers should be allowed to claim tax deductions by measuring the extent to which taxpayers use deductions to avoid paying taxes.
William Stromsem is a teaching assistant professor of accountancy. Prior to his post at GW, Stromsem spent most of his career at the American Institute of CPAs Tax Division, where he became the Director of the Tax Division. Since retiring from the AICPA, Stromsem consults with the Texas Society of CPAs and currently serves on the board of Community Tax Aid, the largest low-income tax return preparation clinic in the Washington D.C. area.
Jeremy Bearer-Friend is an associate professor of law at the George Washington University Law School. Bearer-Friend is an expert in tax law; including federal estate and gift tax, tax procedure, and tax policy. Bearer-Friend’s current scholarship views taxpaying as a civic act that shapes a citizen’s relationship to government. His research examines the omission of race and ethnicity from federal tax data, the use of administrative discretion to shape the civic features of taxpaying, and the potential of elective in-kind contributions to government in lieu of, or in tandem with, cash payments.
Cybersecurity
Scott J. White, Associate Professor and Director of the Cybersecurity Program and Cyber Academy at the College of Professional Studies at the George Washington University. Dr. White is an expert in cybersecurity, cybercrime, counter-terrorism and infrastructure protection. He has worked for a variety of law enforcement agencies in the US, the UK and Canada; as well as holds a Queen’s Commission and was an Officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
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