The IRS says it only texts with your permission and never texts for payment or account details. What fake IRS texts say, how to check with the IRS, and how to report one.
What the text usually says
Fake IRS texts usually offer money or threaten it. The IRS says a message could be a scam if it “offers refunds, credits or deductions” or “tells you to pay now ‘or else’” — a refund waiting behind a link, or a tax debt that will turn into trouble unless it is paid today.
The IRS’s own test for a text is short. A phone call, email or text isn’t from the IRS, it says, if it is unexpected, rushes you, threatens you, asks for personal or financial information, or demands payment now.
For the longer version of this con, see our guide to IRS impersonation scams.
What the IRS says it won’t do
The IRS is unusually clear: “We only text with your permission. We never text to ask for: Personal, financial or tax account information / Payments of any kind / PINs, passwords or account numbers.”
It also says “We normally contact you the first time by mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service,” and “We never ask for or accept gift cards as payment.” A text that opens the conversation, or one that asks for gift cards, fails both.
How to check
Don’t use a link or a number from the text. If a message mentions a notice or a letter, the IRS’s advice is to look it up with its own “search IRS notices and letters” tool on IRS.gov, typed in yourself. The IRS also offers an online account at IRS.gov for seeing your own tax information, so there is no need to go through a message to find out whether you owe anything.
How to report it
The IRS asks for scam texts to be sent to phishing@irs.gov with the subject line “Text”, including the sender’s phone number and the message, your own phone number, and the date, time and time zone it arrived. It also says to forward the text to 7726 (SPAM), which “helps your wireless provider spot and block similar messages,” and to report it to the FTC.
If you already tapped the link or paid
Who to call depends on how the money left, and the sooner the better. Here is who to call for each way of paying.
Got one and not sure?
Paste it into Second Look, or text it over, and Rowan will tell you in plain English what it sees. Free, and no account.
Sources
What the IRS says is quoted from its own pages. Rowan isn’t affiliated with the IRS.
- IRS: Report fake IRS, Treasury or tax-related emails and messages, checked on September 26, 2026
- IRS: Text messages from the IRS, checked on September 26, 2026
- IRS: How to know it’s really the IRS calling or knocking on your door, checked on September 26, 2026
- IRS: Tax scams, checked on September 26, 2026