IRS Systems Security and Funding:
Employee Browsing Not Being Addressed Effectively and Budget Requests for New Systems Development Not Justified
T-AIMD-97-82: Published: Apr 15, 1997. Publicly Released: Apr 15, 1997.
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GAO discussed: (1) Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees' electronic browsing of taxpayer files; and (2) IRS' fiscal years (FYs) 1998 and 1999 budget requests for tax systems modernization (TSM) development.
GAO noted that: (1) on April 8, 1997, GAO issued a report disclosing many serious computer security weaknesses at IRS; (2) these weaknesses make IRS computer resources and taxpayer data unnecessarily vulnerable to external threats, such as natural disasters and people with malicious intentions; (3) they also expose taxpayer data to internal threats, such as employees accessing taxpayer files for purposes unrelated to their jobs (for example, reading the files of celebrities or neighbors) or making unauthorized changes to taxpayer data, either inadvertently or deliberately for personal gain (for example, to initiate unauthorized refunds or abatements of tax); (4) such unauthorized and improper browsing of taxpayer records has been the focus of considerable attention in recent years; (5) nevertheless, GAO's report shows that IRS is not effectively addressing the problem; (6) IRS still does not effectively monitor employee activity, accurately record browsing violations, consistently punish offenders, or widely publicize reports of incidents detected and penalties imposed; (7) compounding IRS' serious and persistent computer security and employee browsing problems are equally serious and persistent TSM management and technical problems that must be corrected if IRS is to effectively invest in TSM; (8) IRS is requesting $1.131 billion in FYs 1998 and 1999 for TSM development and deployment; (9) however, IRS does not know how it will spend this $1.131 billion and has not yet corrected the management and technical problems that IRS has acknowledged have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars being wasted thus far on TSM; and (10) this is inconsistent with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 and the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, which require that information technology investments be supported by convincing business case analyses and disciplined management and technical processes.
Jan 14, 2021
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Tax Administration:
Better Coordination Could Improve IRS's Use of Third-Party Information Reporting to Help Reduce the Tax GapGAO-21-102: Published: Dec 15, 2020. Publicly Released: Jan 14, 2021.
Nov 18, 2020
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IRS Reorganization:
Planning Addressed Key Reform Practices, but Goals and Measures for the Plan Have Not Been FinalizedGAO-21-18: Published: Oct 19, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 18, 2020.
Nov 9, 2020
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Opportunity Zones:
Improved Oversight Needed to Evaluate Tax Expenditure PerformanceGAO-21-30: Published: Oct 8, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 9, 2020.
Oct 19, 2020
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Tax Administration:
Opportunities Exist to Improve Oversight of Hospitals' Tax-Exempt StatusGAO-20-679: Published: Sep 17, 2020. Publicly Released: Oct 19, 2020.
Sep 23, 2020
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Taxpayer Service:
IRS Could Improve the Taxpayer Experience by Using Better Service Performance MeasuresGAO-20-656: Published: Sep 23, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 23, 2020.
Aug 31, 2020
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Abusive Tax Schemes:
Offshore Insurance Products and Associated Compliance RisksGAO-20-589: Published: Jul 30, 2020. Publicly Released: Aug 31, 2020.
Jun 29, 2020
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Taxpayer Compliance:
More Income Reporting Needed for Taxpayers Working through Online PlatformsGAO-20-366: Published: May 28, 2020. Publicly Released: Jun 29, 2020.
Jun 16, 2020
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Tax Exempt Organizations:
IRS Increasingly Uses Data in Examination Selection, but Could Further Improve Selection ProcessesGAO-20-454: Published: Jun 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Jun 16, 2020.
May 1, 2020
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Management Report:
Improvements Are Needed to Enhance the Internal Revenue Service's Internal Control over Financial ReportingGAO-20-480R: Published: May 1, 2020. Publicly Released: May 1, 2020.
Apr 30, 2020
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Priority Open Recommendations:
Internal Revenue ServiceGAO-20-548PR: Published: Apr 23, 2020. Publicly Released: Apr 30, 2020.
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