Two Philadelphia, Pa., tax preparers have been accused of buying and selling personal identifying information of children to claim as dependents on tax returns. Nvahbulai Quisiah and Gofin Kosia, both 43 years old, each face six counts of aggravated identity theft. They have also each been charged on 17 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of a false tax return and six counts of wire fraud.

The average refund issued by the Internal Revenue Service through March 15 dropped by .1 percent over the comparable period ended March 16, 2018. Since the prior report had refunds up by the same percentage over the prior tax season, the pace of change for refunds appears to have plateaued.

The Internal Revenue Service has reported scammers are making calls impersonating the the Taxpayer Advocate Service. The agency said this week the latest variation of the scam spoofs the telephone numbers of the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service offices in Houston, Texas, or Brooklyn, N.Y.

The average refund rose slightly through March 8, continuing a steady increase regisered in each weekly report issued by the Internal Revenue Service this year. The average refund was $3,008, an increase of .1 percent, from $3,004 from the period through March 9, 2018.