GAO: IRS technology overtaxed and under par
Report slams the tax agency's antiquated operations for continually failing to get the job done right
The Internal Revenue Service is riddled with operational problems ranging
from lapses in its computer security system to budgetary and financial systems
that fail, a new General Accounting Office report disclosed Tuesday.
In its annual review of the tax agency's problems, GAO told Congress
an obsolete and antiquated system would continue to plague the IRS with
problems until it is replaced with a state-of-the art system.
"The agency continues to experience pervasive material weaknesses in
the design and operation of its automated financial management and related
operational systems," the GAO reported to the House Government Management,
Information and Technology Subcommittee.
Although the IRS has embarked on a program to overhaul its systems,
it is estimated that enhancements would take 10 to 15 years and cost more
than $2 billion.
Meantime, the agency continues to limp along without tools to keep track
of financial data, causing endless headaches, such as last year's payments
of billions of dollars in refunds to taxpayers who were not entitled to
them.
"Unfortunately, it is an accepted fact that the federal government's
financial systems are obsolete and ineffective. Most federal agencies cannot
produce complete, consistent and reliable financial information on a timely
basis," said Rep. Stephen Horn, R-Calif., chairman of the subcommittee.
Among the problems identified by GAO:
* Significant delays — in some cases more than 10 years — in recording
payments made by taxpayers.
* Delays in releasing tax liens against properties owned by taxpayers
who have paid off their tax liabilities.
* Hiring IRS employees to process money and taxpayer data before receiving
satisfactory results from fingerprint checks.
* Serious weaknesses in protecting computer security.
"The key to better financial management at the IRS is improved technology.
The IRS must replace nearly its entire inventory of computer applications
and convert its data on every taxpayer to new systems," said Lawrence Rogers,
acting chief financial officer of the IRS, who testified before the subcommittee.
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