News

Security of taxpayer data and protection of IRS resources is the number 1 challenge facing the IRS in 2020, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). In a memorandum to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin dated Oct. 15, TIGTA reported on the 10 "most serious management and performance challenges" facing the IRS for fiscal year 2020. Other challenges include implementing tax law changes and modernizing IRS operations.

TIGTA noted that this year's priorities are similar to last year's, but last year's challenge of "identity theft and impersonation fraud" has been changed to "addressing emerging threats to tax administration" to encompass more issues that affect the IRS and taxpayers.

Taxpayer data security

The top concern for the current fiscal year is "security over taxpayer data and protection of IRS resources." TIGTA explained that, to serve the public, the IRS has developed internet-accessible, public-facing applications that interact with taxpayers for various administrative purposes.