I wrote a post yesterday on the Tax Resolution University blog about another IRS screw up. According to an MSN article titled: “IRS accidentally publishes thousands of Social Security numbers online“ it appears the tax agency published tens of thousands of Social Security numbers online while uploading them to a new hub. Gizmodo (a source for the MSN article) credits the nonprofit organization Public Resource.org for discovering then forcing the IRS to correct this major error. Fortunately, the list of 9-digit social security numbers was removed quickly.
The IRS has pledged resources to combating identity theft– the number one tax issue for the Agency. A previous blog post cited the April release of the IRS Data Book report. Then Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Steven T. Miller said that the Agency would take the major tax problem of identity theft and tax refund fraud very seriously using every method necessary to stay ahead of cyber criminals and thieves.
Careless mistakes like this one diminish the Agency’s credibility and will further damage the IRS reputation. However, while this latest story of incompetence may have compromised private taxpayer information, don’t think for a moment the IRS will slow its collection activities.
In spite of budget cuts and IRS employee layoffs, taxpayers need to understand the IRS will continue to be as rigorous in its enforcement actions as ever. As stated before, the government needs money to function. Due to this need, the IRS will continue to focus on those individuals and businesses who it feels will yield additional tax dollars. Don’t give the IRS a reason to audit you!
If you have received an intimidating IRS audit letter or are currently under audit – don’t mess around with the IRS; seek tax relief now! Contact a tax audit expert who has experience handling IRS audit cases who can go to bat for you to resolve your IRS problems for good.