Schmitt & Battaglino Breach Exposes Social Security Numbers

Schmitt & Battaglino Tax & Accounting Inc., a tax and accounting firm in Centralia, Washington, experienced a data breach that resulted in fraudulent tax returns being filed for its clients.

The breach was disclosed to the Washington Attorney General on June 23, 2026. Schmitt & Battaglino began notifying consumers by letter on July 6, 2026. The total number of individuals affected has not been disclosed.

On May 28, 2026, an unauthorized third party gained access to Schmitt & Battaglino's tax return software system. On June 4, 2026, the firm discovered the unauthorized access.

During the investigation that followed, the company confirmed that data belonging to 18 clients had been stolen and used to file fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service.

The types of personal information that may have been exposed included names, Social Security numbers, full dates of birth, tax records and financial or banking information.

Schmitt & Battaglino Tax & Accounting's response to the breach

Schmitt & Battaglino is offering all clients 12 months of complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection through Experian IdentityWorks.

Clients can enroll through the Experian IdentityWorks membership page, and the company stated it would assist clients with setting up the service.