Out of the $11.4 million that the IRS spent on BlackBerrys and Internet aircards in fiscal year 2011, $1.1 million worth of the devices went unused for three months to a year, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. That means that nearly 14,000 aircards and more than 750 BlackBerrys weren’t activated for a chunk of the year. Sixty-eight BlackBerrys weren’t used at all, while still incurring the costs of a monthly cellphone plan. Further, the report found that there was a lack of oversight in how the devices are assigned – with about $950,000 worth being activated through the IRS without the required management approval. Continued misuse would cost taxpayers a total of more than $10.7 million over five years. [The Hill, TIGTA]
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Your Naughty IRS Employee of the Week
That dubious award goes to longtime IRS employee Wayne Garvin, who might be hanging out […]
The IRS Is Taking Your Personal Information Seriously, Starting NOW.
Sometimes we wonder if the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) ever gets tired of telling the IRS that they are doing a lousy job at pretty much everything.
The latest finger wagging from the TIGTA in the Services’ direction has to do with following protocols for processing taxpayer requests for tax returns or transcripts:
Forty-three percent of taxpayer requests for copies of tax returns or transcripts were processed incorrectly or not in accordance with IRS guidelines…
The errors occurred because IRS employees did not always follow guidelines, or because the guidelines were unclear, inconsistent or insufficient in protecting taxpayer information. Existing guidelines allow IRS employees to process taxpayer requests for tax returns or transcripts without an accurate or complete Social Security number and to send copies of returns and transcripts to an address other than that provided to the IRS on tax returns.
Jesus, that’s reassuring. Naturally, the TIGTA is concerned about the American Taxpayer:
“Taxpayers have a right to expect that the IRS will take every measure to protect their tax return information from inappropriate disclosure,” said TIGTA Inspector General J. Russell George in a statement. “The protection of personally identifiable information is a responsibility that the IRS must take more seriously.”
First: judging by the IRS’ track record, they really don’t take anything too seriously, except, perhaps, anything to do with UBS.
Second: Taxpayers have rights? Since when? We’ve been bailing out banks and car companies and you’re concerned about our right to have our tax return information protected? That’s rich. We’ve all been violated to the point of numbness, J. Russell George. Next time, we’d prefer if you said, “The American Taxpayer can expect more of less from the IRS for the foreseeable future. We are in a constant quagmire over here. Please bear with us.”
Honesty. Consider it.
Tax Return Transcripts Expose Personal Information [Web CPA]
The IRS Wants a Piece of Eve
Don’t we all. But seriously, what the hell is wrong with celebrities that can’t manage to pay their taxes? CPAs aren’t that expensive.
Eve isn’t in Nicolas Cage tax trouble with her little bill to the IRS but then again, who is?
The hip-hop star/actress/Who Wants to be a Millionaire contestant (charity, we hope?) owes around $357k from four different liens, two filed by the IRS and two by the state of California from ’08 and ’09.
So let’s brainstorm to help get this girl out of trouble. Is Barbershop 3 in the works? The Glee thing seems to have gone okay but do TV gigs pay enough? She’s not making Seinfeld money after all. Is WWTBAM still a series? Maybe they’re running it in the old Soviet Bloc and she can get on it there…
Hip-hop star Eve hops over tax bill [Tax Watchdog]