The IRS announced it opened the 2023 individual income tax return filing season on January 23. That’s when the agency began accepting and processing 2022 tax year returns. Even if you typically don’t file until much closer to the mid-April deadline (or you file for an extension), consider filing earlier this year. The reason is you can potentially protect yourself from tax identity theft. Here are some answers to questions taxpayers may have about filing. How can your tax identity be stolen? In a typical tax identity theft scam, a thief uses another individual’s personal information to file a fraudulent tax return early in the filing season and claim a bogus refund. The actual taxpayer discovers the fraud when he or she files a return and is told by...