WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is making progress in the management of its employees (human capital) but faces continued challenges, according to a new report publicly released today by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
Since Fiscal Year (FY) 2002, TIGTA has designated human capital as one of the major management challenges facing the IRS. TIGTA reviewed the status of actions the IRS has taken in response to recommendations on human capital issues made by TIGTA in a series of audit reports issued since FY 2009. TIGTA also reviewed the status of the IRS's implementation of the recommendations of an IRS-led task force.
TIGTA's new report found that the IRS has made progress in addressing human capital issues. For example, the IRS developed an agency-wide recruitment strategy that should place it in a better position to identify and attract qualified candidates. IRS documentation shows that it has completed corrective actions for 78 percent of the 46 TIGTA recommendations and 91 percent of the 58 recommendations made by the IRS task force formed to address serious workforce issues.
Despite progress, continued focus by IRS executive management on human capital is important because the IRS's workforce has decreased by about 10,000 full-time equivalents in the last two fiscal years. In addition, many of the IRS's experienced leaders and employees will be eligible to retire in the next five years.
At the same time, significant tax code changes such as implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are on the horizon, and the IRS needs to make improvements to stop billions of dollars in fraudulent or improper tax refunds resulting from identity theft and erroneous claims for tax credits.
"The IRS's continued focus is needed to provide reasonable assurance that the right people will be in the right place at the right time to provide taxpayers with top-quality service and to enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all," said J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
TIGTA made no recommendations in this report; however, key IRS management officials reviewed it prior to issuance.