Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration
Office of Audit
TARGET DATES HAVE NOT BEEN
ESTABLISHED TO ELIMINATE OR REDUCE TAXPAYER SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS FROM
OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE
Issued on August 13, 2010
Highlights
Highlights of
Report Number: 2010-40-098 to the
Internal Revenue Service Deputy Commissioner for Operations Support.
IMPACT ON TAXPAYERS
More than 130 million taxpayers
entrust the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with sensitive financial and
personal data, much of it on paper documents requiring protection. Taxpayers need to be assured that the IRS is
taking every precaution to protect their private information from inadvertent
disclosure.
WHY TIGTA DID THE AUDIT
This audit was initiated because the Social Security Number
is now a vital piece of information needed to function in American society to
pay taxes, obtain a driver’s license, or open a bank account, among other
things. Identity theft affects tax
administration when an individual intentionally uses the Social Security Number
of another person to file a false tax return or fraudulently obtain
employment. Another person’s Social
Security Number is the most valuable tool an identity thief can obtain to commit
financial fraud, and the Social Security Number becomes even more valuable if
it is linked to other personal data of the Social Security Number owner, such
as information required to prepare a tax return. TIGTA conducted this audit to determine
whether the IRS is efficiently eliminating the unnecessary collection and use
of taxpayer Social Security Numbers.
WHAT
TIGTA FOUND
In response to
Office of Management and Budget Memorandum 07-16, the IRS developed and is
implementing its Social Security Number Elimination and Reduction (SSN ER)
Plan. A majority of a sample of SSN ER
Plan accomplishments could be validated.
However, most of the supporting documentation had to be reassembled, and
it was not clear if the IRS had validated the accomplishments before reporting
them. Milestones for Phase 3 of the SSN
ER Plan have not been established.
The IRS will not be eliminating or reducing the use of
taxpayers’ Social Security Numbers in the immediate future. The IRS has many systems, notices, and forms
that use Social Security Numbers which require significant analysis before
Social Security Number use is eliminated or reduced. The IRS focused first on internal forms using
Social Security Numbers and eliminating employees’ Social Security Numbers from
its systems.
WHAT TIGTA RECOMMENDED
TIGTA recommended that
the Deputy Commissioner for Operations Support maintain documentation to
support major deliverables and key meetings so that it is readily available for
examination. The Deputy Commissioner
should also validate data received from the business units and all
accomplishments to ensure all needed actions are complete, and refine and
update the milestones for the SSN ER Plan to ensure timely progress of the
strategy.
The IRS agreed with
the recommendations. It created a
dedicated SSN ER shared folder to maintain documentation related to major SSN
ER Program deliverables and key meetings and plans to ensure specific report
and source materials are readily available for examination. The SSN ER Program team has also identified a
team member as the Records Historian.
The IRS plans to implement a data validation process for all SSN ER Plan
accomplishments to ensure all required actions are completed. Finally, the IRS plans to strengthen Program
milestones by refining and updating milestones quarterly to ensure timely
progress of Program strategies.
READ THE
FULL REPORT
To view the report,
including the scope, methodology, and full IRS response, go to:
http://www.treas.gov/tigta/auditreports/2010reports/201040098fr.html.
Email Address: inquiries@tigta.treas.gov
Phone Number: 202-622-6500
Web Site:
http://www.tigta.gov