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Injured Spouse Cases Were Not Always Timely Resolved, Resulting in the Unnecessary Payment of Interest

Report Information

Date Issued
Report Number
2016-40-042
Report Type
Audit
Joint Report
Yes
Participating OIG
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration
Agency Wide
Yes (agency-wide)
Questioned Costs
$0
Funds for Better Use
$2,700,000
View Report

Recommendations

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should ensure that injured spouse cases are assigned to Customer Service Representatives(CSR)who have sufficient training, knowledge,and experience to resolve the cases.

The Commissioner,Wage and Investment Division, should ensure that taxpayers are informed of the current statute of limitations that the IRS applies when processing injured spouse cases in which a refund is offset for a Federal tax debt and non-tax debts.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should: After receiving legal guidance from Chief Counsel's office, the Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division should prioritize the work needed to update Form 8379 and its instructions to inform taxpayers of the statute of limitations for filing Forms 8379 when refunds are offset to nontax and tax debt.