IRS Criticized

“IRS Criticized.” Nothing new there, right? But this time the criticism came not from disgruntled taxpayers or harried acountants but from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). In two recent reports, the TIGTA chided the IRS in two distinct areas.

The first report questions the IRS’s projected savings. The IRS has estimated that it can save $160 million on taxpayer services in 2006 and 2007 but, the TIGTA says, these estimates can’t be demonstrably supported. This creates a fear that IRS cannot provide sufficient services as they cut resources in order to meet these savings goals.

The TIGTA second report criticizes the IRS for continuing to fail to provide adequate protection of taxpayer information. Though security measures have been improving, there are still areas of concern. Specifically the report referred to IRS employees’ changing their passwords for unauthorized callers.

C'mon, IRS, Don't Be So Shy!

A couple of Senators want the IRS to speak up a bit about one of it's benefits.

In a letter to Acting IRS Commissioner Kevin Brown Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) asked that the Saver's Credit receive a bit more publicity.

The Saver's Credit is a dollar to dollar tax deduction - up to $2000 - available to American tax payers that make contributions to a retirement account.

The Senators acknowledge that many taxpayers have taken advantage of this savings incentive but millions more haven't, most likely because they simply don't know about it. The lawmakers would like the IRS to make this deduction better known to the American taxpayer through a variety of measures, including adding a specific line for it to the 1040EZ form.