A special review the agency conducted in 2022-2023 resulted in nearly 600 recommendations to improve physical protections around and inside agency workplaces. Image: Sundry Photography/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe inspector general at the IRS has issued the latest in a series of warnings about safety risks to IRS employees, saying that “ensuring the safety and protection of its employees, especially those who have direct contact with the public, is an ongoing concern for the IRS.”
The report focused on compliance with general government security procedures and IRS-specific policies at the 363 taxpayer assistance centers, where “there is an increased likelihood that they encounter individuals who may pose a physical threat to them or the facility.” Auditors said that they “identified several security weaknesses that could jeopardize the safety of both IRS employees and taxpayers.”
While many specifics were redacted, one issue involved testing—presumably of security systems—“required to ensure that components operate effectively.” Other identifiable concerns involved security controls at sites that receive cash payments and failure to keep emergency contact information current.
In a report issued earlier this year, the IG had found in unannounced visits that security guards did not perform the required security screening of visitors in nine of 85 cases.
That followed a late-2024 report saying that that security concerns were continuing after a special review the agency conducted in 2022-2023 resulted in nearly 600 recommendations to improve physical protections around and inside agency workplaces. That report said auditors separately identified additional security vulnerabilities at an undisclosed number of facilities when examining whether those recommendations had been carried out.
Also, a 2023 report raised concerns about public availability of the names of IRS employees saying that information could be used “by malevolent taxpayers seeking to harass, intimidate, threaten, or assault” them; that report further found that that 11 of 32 managers surveyed said they had been contacted by taxpayers outside of business hours.
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