The IRS released its annual “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams for 2026 back in March, and tax professionals are still fielding warnings from clients running into them months later — including a newcomer scam this year built around bogus self-employment tax credits aimed squarely at small business owners and the self-employed.
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What happened
The IRS announced the 2026 Dirty Dozen (IR-2026-30) on March 5, 2026, coinciding with National “Slam the Scam” Day.1 The list flags 12 schemes, including email and text impersonation scams that use QR codes to direct victims to fraudulent sites, AI-powered phone scams using spoofed caller ID and computer-generated voices, and identity theft targeting IRS Online Accounts. New to this year’s list: bogus promotions for self-employment tax credits that don’t actually exist, and abusive claims involving overstated Form 2439 capital gains filings.
IRS Commissioner Frank Bisignano said in the announcement that “thieves continuously adjust the pitches they use to take advantage of honest taxpayers.” The list also calls out “ghost preparers” — tax preparers who complete a return but refuse to sign it or provide their IRS preparer identification number, a red flag that lets them avoid accountability if the return is fraudulent or wrong.2
Why it matters
Small business owners and the self-employed are disproportionately targeted by several items on this year’s list — the fake self-employment tax credit pitch and ghost preparers in particular are aimed at people filing Schedule C returns, not W-2 employees. Falling for either one can mean an inflated refund claim that triggers an IRS notice, penalties, or an audit months after the scam promoter has already collected their fee and disappeared.
What this means for small business owners
The common thread across most of these scams is that they promise a shortcut — a bigger refund, a credit you didn’t know you qualified for, a preparer who guarantees a number before looking at your books. Real tax positions come from accurate, complete financial records, not from a cold call or a viral social media claim. Working with a bookkeeper or tax professional who signs their work, uses your actual transaction history, and can show you where a number came from is the practical defense against nearly every item on this list.
“Thieves continuously adjust the pitches they use to take advantage of honest taxpayers,” IRS Commissioner Frank Bisignano said in the agency’s Dirty Dozen announcement.
The bottom line
None of the 2026 Dirty Dozen scams work on a business with clean, current books and a tax preparer willing to put their name on the return. If a tax credit, refund amount, or preparer relationship sounds too easy, verify it against your own records — or with your own accountant — before you sign anything.
