U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Https

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Transcript Delivery System Authentication and Authorization Processes Do Not Adequately Protect Against Unauthorized Release of Tax Information

Report Information

Date Issued
Report Number
2018-40-014
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 notify the 1,356 IVES participants who were not notified (and did not independently certify) of the need to certify and disable those participants that do not certify as required.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should Require IVES participants to provide the IRS with a list of their clients. In addition, develop a field in the online request system that requires the IVES user, at the time tax transcripts are requested, to enter identifying information for the client that is requesting the tax transcript.
Recommendation rejected by IRS

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should implement a compliance strategy to ensure that IVES participants comply with the certification and program participation requirements.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should ***2*** ****************************2*************** as an additional safeguard to protect taxpayer information.