When should I review wage records in an identity-theft tax case?

Review them as soon as the facts suggest the liability may be built on wages or earnings that do not belong to the taxpayer.

That matters because some identity-theft cases are not only about a fraudulent return. They are also about false earnings records that drove the tax assessment in the first place.

Example:

• Jared Pike receives a notice for old tax due.
• His transcript reflects wages from two employers he has never heard of.
• His refund is now being offset against that assessed balance.

At that stage, reviewing wage records is not optional background work. It is part of proving that the account history itself is wrong.

For EA exam purposes, the key is to connect the refund offset to the underlying earnings problem rather than treating the offset as a stand-alone collections issue.