Improvements Are Needed to Address Continued Deficiencies in Ensuring the Accuracy of the Centralized Authorization File

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should coordinate with the Information Technology organization to develop an alternate solution for verifying taxpayers' e-signatures on Forms 2848 and 8821. This includes identifying the business requirements for the new system.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should add the 1,546 TINs that TIGTA identified to the DSL to allow detection of potential identity theft returns filed using the TINs.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should include in the reminder communication a request for function heads to update Internal Revenue Manual guidance for their employees to ensure that they are aware of the *W&ISUSPAuth mailbox and how to use it to report suspicious CAF number activity. This includes updating the guidance for all compliance functions with procedures for reporting suspicious authorizations and stolen CAF numbers.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should perform a one-time clean-up of the CAF to identify all representatives with multiple CAF numbers and remove CAF numbers that were erroneously assigned.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should develop a process to continually identify and address tax examiners erroneously assigning multiple CAF numbers to a representative at the same address.