Improvements Are Required to Promptly Validate and Issue Manual Refunds Associated With Deceased Taxpayers

The Chief, Taxpayer Services, should require that additional documentation be provided with all Form 1310 filings.

The Chief, Taxpayer Services, should ensure that consistent guidance is provided to employees regarding how to handle a Form 1310 that has missing or erroneous calendar and tax year information.

In June 2024, we sent an alert to the IRS noting our concern with the denial of the programming request that would enable Accounts Management employees to systemically release refunds associated with surviving spouses. We recommended that the Chief, Taxpayer Services coordinate with the appropriate IRS offices and senior officials to expedite the approval, funding, and implementation of the programming request

The Chief, Taxpayer Services, should ensure that the decedent refund programming request has appropriate controls to systemically calculate the accurate interest owed to survivors or claimants and avoid overpaying and underpaying interest on the refunds.

The Chief, Taxpayer Services, should update internal guidelines to advise Individual Taxpayer Advisory Specialists and Customer Service Representatives to obtain a Form 1310 while assisting taxpayers and electronically route the document to employees assigned to the case.