A Federal court in California last week cleared the way for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to begin gathering data on cryptocurrency transactions conducted by U.S. taxpayers between 2016 and 2021, to gauge the degree to which citizens are complying with Federal tax law on crypto transactions.  […]

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent an August 17 memorandum to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Charles Rettig setting a six-month deadline to produce a plan for the tax agency to overhaul its technology and staffing capabilities. […]

President Biden is vowing to sign the Inflation Reduction Act this week after a divided House of Representatives on Friday approved the legislation that backers hope will help the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rebuild its antiquated technology systems. […]

The Inflation Reduction Act winding its way through Congress contains a massive infusion of funds for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), including $4.8 billion that the bill’s authors hope will help to rebuild the agency’s antiquated technology systems. […]

In a sources sought notice (SSN), the IRS is seeking to improve the security posture of Federal tax information (FTI) and optimize processes to reduce costs and minimize risk to FTI in possession of agency partners. […]

The IRS in a new report on that it has put some COVID-19 relief funding to work to help speed modernization of its technology infrastructure as it hits the halfway mark in a six-year modernization project. […]

The IRS has agreed with a Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendation that it pilot test the use of videoconferencing technology as part of its ongoing efforts to meet with third-party tax preparers to educate them on compliance obligations and tax rules. Based on results from the pilot, IRS may expand on-line meetings with preparers. […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has added five new priority recommendations for action to the to-do list of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), including new items related to improving taxpayer services and reducing tax fraud. […]

Paul Selby has been appointed to serve as the deputy chief information security officer (CISO) for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at the Department of Treasury. […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report that its Fiscal Year 2021 audit found information system control problems at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that increase the risk of unauthorized access to financial and sensitive taxpayer data and disruption of critical operations. […]

While the IRS complied with COVID-19 relief legislation to give tax breaks to employers who provided paid sick and family leave and retained employees, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report that the tax agency could benefit from strengthening its compliance plans for those tax provisions. […]

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has identified concerns with IRS payment programs including inaccurate assessment of risk for the U.S. Coronavirus Economic Impact Payment program, the Sick and Paid Family Leave, Credit and the Employee Retention Tax Credit, along with self-employment income reporting to the Social Security Administration (SSA). […]

As the IRS continues to face a large backlog of tax returns, the agency is looking into technology that can scan and digitize paper tax filings to improve efficiency. […]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is pushing back on a Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendation for the agency to develop more free online tax filing options for citizens, arguing that it doesn’t have the money to undertake the work, and that doing so might not accomplish the end results that GAO envisions. […]

As the IRS faces a backlog of about 23.5 million tax returns and pieces of correspondence stretching back to the 2020 tax season, members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee called on the agency Thursday to modernize its IT systems and invest in scanning technology to improve efficiency. […]

The IRS has pledged to work on modernizing its “Where’s My Refund” taxpayer refund tracking tool after a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) flagged the need for the agency to address that and other problems. […]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that it would be awarding a black purchase agreement (BPA) with a $70 million cap to develop and implement intelligent automation, machine learning (ML), AI, and data analytics. […]

The IRS is planning to have employees return to their traditional offices in a phased telework approach, according to the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), with the first phase of employee returns set for May. […]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is establishing its first-ever Taxpayer Experience Office as part of a long-term effort to improve taxpayer service and improve the taxpayer experience. […]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said on Feb. 21 that it will allow taxpayers to opt out of using facial recognition technology to verify their identity and access online accounts, and at the same time will work to roll out login.gov as its long-term authentication solution. […]

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Charles Rettig told Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., in late December that the IRS needs more money and changes to the tax code to better prevent and prosecute criminal uses of cryptocurrency, which has emerged in recent years as a favored medium of exchange involving ransomware and other cyber attacks. […]

The IRS is planning to transition away from using facial recognition technology provider ID.me to verify IRS.gov accounts, according to Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore. […]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is preparing to rebid a contract for the digital platform that connects taxpayers, paid tax preparers, and IRS employees to agency systems. […]

A recent audit found that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has cybersecurity deficiencies that are leaving taxpayer data open to misuse, tampering, or disclosure due in part to the agency’s over-reliance on older systems. […]

Significant tax benefits can occur when taxpayers invest in Qualified Opportunity Funds, which invest in Opportunity Zones that were created by Congress, and the IRS says that over 6,000 of these funds invested about $29 billion in Opportunity Zones through 2019, but plans to ensure funds comply with requirements depend on data that isn’t readily accessible. […]

According to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), one of the five IT systems the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) uses for collecting taxes, distributing refunds, and other objectives may not be complete until 2030. […]

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) found through an audit that the IRS needs to do a better job of wiping sensitive taxpayer data on laptop and desktop hard disks. […]

The Department of Treasury’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced five $7.5 million contract awards August 18 to help the agency scan and digitalize over a billion of the agency’s files. […]

As Federal agencies modernize IT systems to meet mission goals, they must overcome barriers to creating business cases for change.

Agency culture is one of the barriers that can prevent change from happening at departments, Head of Office of Online Services at the IRS Karen Howard said today during the GovLoop Virtual Summit. […]

The IRS is looking to utilize augmented reality (AR) or a comparable version of extended reality (XR) technology to improve taxpayers’ experience with additional information when they point their mobile device at any IRS form or image. […]