Watchdog: IRS lacks fair audit safeguards

Two Internal Revenue Service departments lack proper review and documentation of their audits, according to a pair of internal watchdog reports released Thursday.

{mosads}The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the IRS’s Small Business/Self Employed Unit and Wage & Investment Unit didn’t properly track and evaluate audits, which “increases the risk that the audit program’s mission of fair and equitable application of the tax laws will not be achieved.”

The GAO made several recommendations to each division, including defining what a fair audit is, creating a consistent documentation process and highlighting examples of fair audits. The IRS agreed to make the changes.

Republicans have kept a close eye on the IRS after the agency was found to have inappropriately targeted conservative political groups applying for nonprofit status. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said the reports “exposed serious weaknesses in the IRS’s auditing process and confirmed that Americans remain at risk of political targeting.”

“Ways and Means members will hold the IRS accountable for quickly implementing GAO’s recommendations and finally treating all American taxpayers fairly,” said Brady, whose committee oversees tax policy.