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WASHINGTON The In- ternal Revenue Service Wednesday reminded taxpayers who receive re- quests from the IRS to verify their identities that the Identity Verification Service website idverify. irs.gov offers the fastest, easiest way to complete the task. Taxpayers may receive a letter when the IRS stops suspicious tax returns that have indications of being identity theft but contains a real taxpayer's name and/or Social Secu- rity number. Only those taxpayers receiving Let- ter 5071C should access idverify.irs.gov. The website will ask a series of questions that only the real taxpayer can answer. Once the identity is ver- ified, the taxpayers can confirm whether or not they filed the return in question. If they did not file the return, the IRS can take steps at that time to assist them. If they did file the return, it will take approximately six weeks to process it and issue a refund. Letter 5071C is mailed through the U.S. Postal Service to the address on the return. It asks taxpay- ers to verify their identi- ties in order for the IRS to complete processing of the returns if the tax- payers did file it or reject the returns if the taxpay- ers did not file it. The IRS does not request such in- formation via email, nor will the IRS call a tax- payer directly to ask this information without you receiving a letter first. The letter number can be found in the upper corner of the page. The letter gives tax- payers two options to contact the IRS and con- firm whether or not they filed the return. Taxpay- ers may use the idverify. irs.gov site or call a toll- free number on the letter. Because of the high-vol- ume on the toll-free num- bers, the IRS-sponsored website, idverify.irs.gov, is the safest, fastest op- tion for taxpayers with web access. Taxpayers should have available their prior year tax return and their cur- rent year tax return, if they filed one, including supporting documents, such as Forms W-2 and 1099 and Schedules A and C. Taxpayers also may access idverify.irs.gov through www.IRS.gov by going to Understanding Your 5071C Letter or the Understanding Your IRS Notice or Letter page. The tool is also available in Spanish. Taxpayers should al- ways be aware of tax scams, efforts to solicit personally identifiable in- formation and IRS imper- sonations. However, id- verify.irs.gov is a secure, IRS-supported site that allows taxpayers to ver- ify their identities quickly and safely. IRS.gov is the official IRS website. Always look for a URL ending with ".gov" — not ".com," ".org," ".net," or other nongov- ernmental URLs. SCAM WATCH Identityverification recipients urged to use site It costs hardly any- thing ($2 a gallon on sale); it's available in every gro- cery store in the uni- verse and so use- ful around your home you are go- ing to have a hard time believing it. That's the power of vin- egar. Yep, plain, cheap, 5 percent acidity, white vinegar. 1. Instead of fabric softener or dry sheets, add to 1 cup vine- gar to the last rinse in your washing machine (as you would liquid softener). Your clothes will come out soft be- cause the vinegar helps to remove every trace of laundry detergent, which causes fabrics to stiffen. 2. Add cup white vinegar to a quart of very warm water to make a good win- dow cleaner. Wipe with crumpled newspaper or a coffee filter and your windows will sparkle. 3. Vinegar will dis- solve hard-water marks like those on shower doors, faucets and in vases. If the vinegar is hot (heat in the mi- crowave) it works even faster. 4. Instead of pricey commercial rinse agents, fill that little reser- voir in your dishwasher with white vinegar. Your dishes will sparkle. Re- fill often. If your dish- washer does not have this feature, simply add to 1 cup (depending on the hardness of your water) to the last rinse. 5. Wash your car's windshield with vine- gar to help keep ice and frost at bay. 6. Diluted 50/50 with water, vinegar will take pet odors out of carpets. Find the offending area and saturate it well (you want to use more liquid here than the amount the pet contributed). Let it set for a while and then blot all you can with a clean white towel. Don't scrub! Blot! Stand on that towel to bring the liquid into the towel. 7. Vinegar makes a great wallpaper re- mover. First remove all the wallpaper you can by simply pulling it off. You'll probably get only the top layer of the pa- per, but that's OK. Now spray full-strength vin- egar on what remains. This will begin to dis- solve the glue. Once soft- ened, you'll be able to remove the rest without harsh chemicals. 8. Use the acidity of vinegar to tenderize meat. I add several ta- blespoons to pot roast, soups and stews. If you have balsamic vinegar, it will add a wonderful fla- vor, but white vinegar tenderizes just as well. Your guests will think you are serving them fi- let mignon. 9. You can clean cop- per-bottom pots with a paste made of salt and vinegar. Caution: Do not use this on decorative copper that has a lac- quer coating. 10. Wash your vinyl and ceramic tile floors with a mixture of hot water and white vine- gar (1 cup per gallon of water). No need to rinse, and you will never have that nasty film that plain wa- ter leaves behind. And Wow! Your floor will shine like a new penny. 11. White vinegar will take the sting out of sunburn. Just soak a towel and apply to the burn. The smell is far more tolerable than the pain of a sunburn. Caution: Never self- treat a severe burn. Contact your health professional immedi- ately if you have any doubt. 12. Clean your steam iron from the inside out. Fill the steam reservoir with white vinegar and heat to the hottest set- ting. It's going to steam vinegar, so get prepared for a strong smell. You will see all kinds of hard water deposits come out of the steam holes. Empty remaining vin- egar, fill with water and allow to steam well to remove all traces of vin- egar. Repeat as neces- sary. Note: Check the owner's manual to make sure vinegar is not pro- hibited in your particu- lar model. Mary Hunt is the founder of www. DebtProofLiving.com, a personal finance member website. You can email her at mary@ everydaycheapskate. com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2099, Cypress, CA 90630. EVERYDAY CHEAPSKATE Adozendandyusesforwhitevinegar DAILYNEWSPHOTOBYRICHGREENE MercyHighSchoolPrincipalPaulWeberwonthethird annual Red Bluff Kiwanis Cards for Kids charity poker tournament Saturday. Second place went to Bobbie Houghton. The event raised more than $5,300 to help send as many as 100 local children to the club's free an- nual summer camp at Camp Tehama near Mill Creek. FUNDRAISER MERCY PRINCIPAL TAKES TOP PRIZE AT TOURNAMENT Mary Hunt Call 877-4DAD411 or visit www.fatherhood.gov be a dad today. Take time to LIFESTYLES » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, March 19, 2015 MORE ATFACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4