IRS Lost Millions Of Taxpayer Records That Could Be Used For Identity Theft

By Casey Harper (The Heart Sq.)

The Inside Income Service misplaced hundreds of thousands of taxpayer information and federal workers don’t know the place they’ve gone.

Lawmakers need solutions and accountability for the IRS over these paperwork, which may very well be utilized by nefarious actors to steal Individuals’ identification.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa and Home Methods and Means Chair Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., despatched a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel elevating issues in regards to the IRS’ stock of taxpayer information.

“The IRS’s lackadaisical perspective in the direction of the lack of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer information containing Social Safety numbers, addresses, and different delicate tax return info is appalling,” the letter stated. “The American individuals deserve higher.”

The IRS retains microfilm information of particular person and enterprise tax information in warehouses across the nation. Nonetheless, a latest Treasury Inspector Common for Tax Administration report discovered that hundreds of thousands of these information have been unaccounted for, and federal workers couldn’t reply questions on what occurred to them.

The TIGTA report, launched earlier this month, says the IRS is “not in compliance” with federal recordkeeping guidelines.

“Particularly, the microfilm cartridges are being saved on open shelving in the course of the Recordsdata constructing, a big warehouse,” the report stated. “The warehouse is accessible by all Recordsdata Operate personnel throughout the facility, and the shelving isn’t inside eyesight of the IRS personnel answerable for overseeing microfilm actions.”

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The letter lays out a few of the extra regarding examples of improper storage. From the letter:

TIGTA additionally reported that the IRS was unable to find any of the fiscal 12 months (FY) 2010 backup information that ought to have been despatched from a Tax Processing Heart in Fresno, California, to Kansas Metropolis, Missouri. As well as, the IRS couldn’t account for 4,500 backup cartridges from FY 2019 containing particular person taxpayer info and 4,000 backup cartridges from FY 2018 containing enterprise tax information. This implies the IRS can not account for probably 17 million tax information between FY 2018 and FY 2019 alone.

Furthermore, throughout an onsite go to to an IRS Tax Processing Heart, TIGTA noticed a number of empty containers that have been meant to retailer as much as 168 backup cartridges with hand written notes stating “despatched for reformat 4-11-2013.” IRS personnel, nonetheless, had no thought the place these backup cartridges have been situated as a result of the microfilm contractor that will have acquired the backup models went out of enterprise in 2018.

The lawmakers’ letter demanded solutions about what has been completed to rectify the issue, one in every of many administrative points for the company.

Lawmakers have additionally blasted the IRS for destroying about 30 million taxpayer paperwork.

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Smith and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman David Schweikert, R-Ariz., despatched a letter to Werfel in July saying the IRS has skirted oversight over the information and “willfully ignored” a number of info requests from Congress.

That inquiry started after a special TIGTA report confirmed the IRS destroyed 30 million taxpayer information in 2021. These paperwork might have been used to assist Individuals defend themselves throughout audits, which President Joe Biden has pledged to ramp as much as enhance federal income.

Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.