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The Internal Revenue Service Did Not Identify and Assist All Individuals Potentially Affected by the Get Transcript Application Data Breach

Report Information

Date Issued
Report Number
2016-40-037
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
$0
View Report

Recommendations

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should revise notification letters to enable taxpayers to more easily identify the individuals whose PII was accessed in any future security breaches.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should ensure that procedures are followed to identify errors in letters and to verify the sequential order of letters against the letter production plan before the letters are mailed.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should issue an IP PIN to all Letter 4281-B recipients whose SSNs were used by unauthorized individuals to attempt to access the Get Transcript application.
Recommendation rejected by IRS