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Processes Do Not Ensure That Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers Are Issued Only to Qualifying Individuals With a Tax Administration Need

Report Information

Date Issued
Report Number
2020-40-064
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
$4,743,068
View Report

Recommendations

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should review the 562 ITINs with **********************2************************ ***2*** and the 2,239 ITINs with duplicate supporting documents that TIGTA identified and take appropriate actions to revoke or deactivate the ITINs.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should develop processes and procedures to identify active ITINs assigned to individuals whose ITIN was revoked or who are deceased and take appropriate actions to deactivate the ITIN or add a deceased lock on their tax account.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should review the 89 ITINs identified as revoked and still active and the 51 ITINs assigned to deceased individuals that are not locked that TIGTA identified and take appropriate action to deactivate the ITINs or add a deceased lock on the tax account.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should move the PII review after the SRT review to allow the SRT more time to review ITIN applications before ITINs are issued.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should establish an additional suspense action in the RTS to allow the SRT to suspend certain types of applications if additional time is needed to complete its review of the application. Until programming to establish the additional suspense action is implemented, the IRS should extend the three-day hold period in the RTS to allow the SRT time to complete its review to identify potentially fraudulent Form W-7 applications and ensure that actions are taken to prevent the issuance of the ITIN.