The agency lost track of thousands of backup cartridges, each containing up to 2,000 photos of tax information. Image: Rob Crandall/Shutterstock.com
The two top congressional Republicans on the committees overseeing the IRS are pressing the agency for a response to a recent inspector general report on the handling of backup records of both personal and business returns containing information such as names, Social Security numbers, employer identification numbers and tax account and return information.
“The information contained in these backup records can be used by nefarious actors to commit tax fraud and identity theft,” said Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chair of the House Ways and Means Committee and Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. “IRS protocol requires it to securely file business and individual backup tax records.”
However, they cited IG findings including that the IRS has lost track of thousands of backup cartridges, each containing up to 2,000 photos of tax information; that 15 pallets of backup records that should have been sent to the Federal Records Center five years ago have, instead, been sitting at an IRS distribution center; and that while IRS policy requires backup records be stored in controlled areas, at some IRS processing centers all employees can access them.
They asked what steps the IRS has taken or plans to take to investigate the disappearance of the cartridges and whether the agency has notified affected individuals and businesses, adding that “there must be accountability to prevent this type of misconduct from occurring in the future.”
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