The IRS is careful not to release documents that could inadvertently include others’ private information, it said in a statement. The agency also works -- with victims’ consent -- with law enforcement agencies, which requested copies of nearly 7,000 returns last year, according to the e-mailed statement.

Fraud victims can get a copy of the return from TurboTax after submitting a written request and verifying their identity, said Julie Miller, a spokeswoman for Intuit. Of Loo’s situation, Miller said by e-mail: “He may have connected with an agent(s) who was not familiar with our policy.”

IRS Letter

Loo’s troubles started earlier this year, he said, when the IRS sent him a letter saying that his 2014 taxes had been filed in February. At that point, neither he nor his spouse had filed, he said.

Loo, who said he has been using the desktop version of TurboTax for five years, wanted to know whether the returns included his details that would require him to conduct further identity-scrubbing, he said. For months, he paid visits to offices of the local police and Social Security Administration, filed reports to several government agencies, including an Identity Theft Affidavit, Form 14039, to the IRS, to manage the fallout.

Victims’ Rights

What he really wanted was the bogus return, and there were a couple arguments in his favor. Tax-fraud victims may be entitled to a copy of the “bad return” and information associated with it, the IRS’s legal department wrote in a 2012 memorandum available on the agency’s website. Loo said he also referenced the victims’ bill of rights, part of the 2012 Fair Credit Reporting Act, which says victims of identity fraud have the right to obtain documents relating to fraudulent transactions made or accounts opened using personal information.

Over several calls, Intuit maintained they couldn’t release the forms, for privacy reasons, he said. The company referred him to the IRS, he said, which told them it was against its policy to grant his request.

The IRS, in its statement, pointed to a section of the tax code that limits the release of taxpayer information to third parties. Fraudulent returns could include the private information of other victims, such as another person falsely claimed as a dependent, or of the criminal, it said. The IRS didn’t respond to a question about why it can’t redact such information.

Section 6103