WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does not always promptly and

properly notify taxpayers of inadvertent disclosures of their personal information,

according to a new report publicly released today by the Treasury Inspector General for

Tax Administration (TIGTA).

Millions of taxpayers entrust the IRS with sensitive financial and personal data when they

file their tax returns each year. TIGTA conducted an audit to determine whether the IRS

promptly notifies taxpayers of inadvertent disclosure of their Personally Identifiable

Information (PII) so they can take the necessary steps to protect themselves from identity

theft or other harm.

"It is troubling that although the IRS has many processes and regulations that protect

taxpayer information, there are times when taxpayer information is inadvertently

disclosed," said J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax

Administration. "Taxpayers need to be assured that the IRS will promptly notify them of

inadvertent disclosures of their confidential information, so they can take appropriate

steps to protect themselves from identity theft or other harm," he added.

TIGTA reviewed a statistical sample of 98 case files of incidents reported as inadvertent

disclosures in Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010 and found that not all taxpayers were properly

or timely notified of the disclosures' occurrence. Of those 98 case files, TIGTA found

that 35 cases involved a failure to notify the taxpayer or a failure to notify the taxpayer

within 45 days of the incident.

In addition, TIGTA's review of the IRS's four systems used to capture disclosure

incidents identified an additional 815 potential inadvertent disclosures, not previously

identified by the IRS.

TIGTA made four recommendations in its report, calling for better employee education,

procedure revision and the introduction of new timeliness measures and controls. The

IRS agreed to the recommendations.