GAO to IRS: Improve Internal Control

The Governmental Accountability Office has recommended dozens of improvements in internal control to the Internal Revenue Service. Among GAO concerns are: inability to trace information in the IRS general ledger, the unpaid assessment process was ineffective in detecting or correcting errors, computer programs on penalty assessments did not necessarily conform to IRS procedures, controls for the IRS purchase card program were not sufficient and fixed assets were not always being recorded in a timely manner. The GAO recommended that the unpaid assessment estimation program should be throughly tested by the chief statistican of the IRS.

I am glad to see that the GAO is taking internal control seriously. My guess is that the IRS is hardly alone among government agencies with some of these problems; nevertheless, if the IRS is going to collect our taxes, we are entitled to having the IRS run their operations as efficiently and effectively as possible.