Posted on 08/29/2023 1:48:22 PM PDT by Twotone
The Internal Revenue Service lost millions of taxpayer records and federal employees don’t know where they have gone.
Lawmakers want answers and accountability for the IRS over those documents, which could be used by nefarious actors to steal Americans’ identity.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa and House Ways and Means Chair Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel raising concerns about the IRS’ inventory of taxpayer records.
“The IRS’s lackadaisical attitude towards the loss of millions of taxpayer records containing Social Security numbers, addresses, and other sensitive tax return information is appalling,” the letter said. “The American people deserve better.”
The IRS keeps microfilm records of individual and business tax records in warehouses around the country. However, a recent Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report found that millions of those records were unaccounted for, and federal employees couldn’t answer questions about what happened to them.
The TIGTA report, released earlier this month, says the IRS is “not in compliance” with federal recordkeeping rules.
“Specifically, the microfilm cartridges are being stored on open shelving in the middle of the Files building, a large warehouse,” the report said. “The warehouse is accessible by all Files Function personnel within the facility, and the shelving is not within eyesight of the IRS personnel responsible for overseeing microfilm activities.”
The letter lays out some of the more concerning examples of improper storage. From the letter:
TIGTA also reported that the IRS was unable to locate any of the fiscal year (FY) 2010 backup records that should have been sent from a Tax Processing Center in Fresno, California, to Kansas City, Missouri. In addition, the IRS could not account for 4,500 backup cartridges from FY 2019 containing individual taxpayer information and 4,000 backup cartridges from FY 2018 containing business tax records. This means the IRS cannot account for possibly 17 million tax records between FY 2018 and FY 2019 alone.
Moreover, during an onsite visit to an IRS Tax Processing Center, TIGTA observed multiple empty boxes that were intended to store up to 168 backup cartridges with hand written notes stating “sent for reformat 4-11-2013.” IRS personnel, however, had no idea where these backup cartridges were located because the microfilm contractor that would have received the backup units went out of business in 2018.
The lawmakers’ letter demanded answers about what has been done to rectify the problem, one of many administrative issues for the agency.
Lawmakers have also blasted the IRS for destroying about 30 million taxpayer documents.
Smith and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman David Schweikert, R-Ariz., sent a letter to Werfel in July saying the IRS has skirted oversight over the records and “willfully ignored” multiple information requests from Congress.
That inquiry began after a different TIGTA report showed the IRS destroyed 30 million taxpayer records in 2021. Those documents could have been used to help Americans defend themselves during audits, which President Joe Biden has pledged to ramp up to increase federal revenue.
And wouldn't you know it, Hunter & Joe's records mysteriously disappeared.
Purposeful Fed. Government redistribution of wealth. Someone prove otherwise.
Maybe those 87,000 new agents can help them find the records.
China has them.
Gosh, they were around here somewhere. Danny, did you see if they went out with the trash bags?
have they been fined tens of millions of dollars like private corporations are?
Under relentless and withering Republican scrutiny, this will result in an IRS budget increase and ten thousand more government union employees to make sure “this never happens again.”
Well, I sure hope the IRS was able to sell this information for a good price.
“The TIGTA report, released earlier this month, says the IRS is “not in compliance” with federal recordkeeping rules.”
Rules, schmools...
Actually...cut IRS funding until they Are in compliance...I can dream
you’d think they’d notify the compromised parties, and you’d be wrong...
They threw them away. When they get behind, they simply throw away the backlog.
I saw this article late last week, and started thinking.
If one of my clients gets an audit letter, it is common for the IRS to request they provide a return. I am musing how, “We destroyed that return and all supporting data when the statute of limitations expired” will play. The SOL is three years from the due date or filing, whichever is later.
On an entirely unrelated matter, I requested all tax returns and data for a few LLCs of mine. The time was 2015-current. A pretty little letter from the IRS came and said that it could find nothing to produce. So, I can’t rebuild any tax history, NOR can the IRS.
I am inventing my response to the IRS the next time it asks for info.
Gwjack
Kind of hard to believe…since there’s so much redundancy built into large-scale systems.
Data redundancy refers to the practice of keeping data in two or more places within a database or data storage system. Data redundancy ensures an organization can provide continued operations or services in the event something happens to its data -- for example, in the case of data corruption or data loss. The concept applies to areas such as databases, computer memory and file storage systems.
Data redundancy can occur within an organization intentionally or accidentally. If done intentionally, the same data is kept in different locations with the organization making a conscious effort to protect it and ensure its consistency. This data is often used for backups or disaster recovery.
https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/redundant
I lose one check, and I could be audited, fined, and even jailed.
They do this... and it’s “Oopsy. Sorry about that.”
I’m convinced the records are routinely shuffled to the DNC.
Here is where your tax return goes to get lost!
I hope they lost my records : )
I made no money last year in the stock I have and I am doing pretty good this year but I have quite a bit of already taxed money so do not need to sell my stock that would trigger new taxes.
Below see the photos of the paperwork and Windows XP computers and COBAL!!!!
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Why does the IRS need $80 billion? Just look at its cafeteria.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/interactive/2022/irs-pipeline-tax-return-delays/
As of July 29, the IRS had a backlog of 10.2 million unprocessed individual returns. Blame the pandemic, sure, but also the agency’s embarrassingly outdated, paper-based system, which leaves stacks and stacks of returns cluttering shelves, hallways and even the cafeteria.
On the Pipeline, paper tax returns aren’t scanned into computers; instead, IRS employees manually keystroke the numbers from each document into the system, digit by digit.
#12 This is like “The Simpson’s” Chief Wiggum of Springfield who when he comes in on monday just deletes all the recorded 911 calls from the weekend....
#15 Data redundancy?
I have my backup drive on top of my pc under under my desk under my drink holder and a copy next to my electric car in the garage. All is safe.
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