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Desk Review of Native Village of Point Hope’s Use of Coronavirus Relief Fund Proceeds
Treasury OIG follow-up on the missing documentation and make a determination whether to conduct a full-scope audit of Point Hope. In addition, Treasury OIG personnel determine whether to take further action, up to and including recoupment of Point Hope’s CRF proceeds, based on the scope limitation and potential noncompliance with the records retention requirement.
Treasury’s Office of Capital Access will ensure that management decision letters are issued on the findings identified by the auditor in the Single Audit report
Desk Review of Navajo Nation Tribal Government's Use of Coronavirus Relief Fund Proceeds (Redacted)
Treasury's Office of Capital Access should follow-up on the findings identified in the Fiscal Year 2020 Single Audit.
Treasury’s Office of Capital Access should follow-up to obtain the status of the 2021 and 2022 Single Audits.
Treasury OIG personnel follow-up with Navajo Nation management and request that missing documentation to support expenditures is provided and necessary corrections are made in the GrantSolutions portal. Based on Navajo Nation’s responsiveness to Treasury OIG’s requests and its ability to provide sufficient documentation, we recommend Treasury OIG personnel determine the feasibility of performing a focused audit for Grants greater than or equal to $50,000.
Treasury OIG personnel follow-up with Navajo Nation management and request that missing documentation to support expenditures is provided and necessary corrections are made in the GrantSolutions portal. Based on Navajo Nation’s responsiveness to Treasury OIG’s requests and its ability to provide sufficient documentation, we recommend Treasury OIG personnel determine the feasibility of performing a focused audit for Aggregate Reporting less than $50,000.
Treasury OIG personnel follow-up with Navajo Nation management and request that missing documentation to support expenditures is provided and necessary corrections are made in the GrantSolutions portal. Based on Navajo Nation’s responsiveness to Treasury OIG’s requests and its ability to provide sufficient documentation, we recommend Treasury OIG personnel determine the feasibility of performing a focused audit for Aggregate Payments to Individuals. We also recommend a specific focus on Navajo Nation’s non-payroll COVID-19 hardship claims, as well as payroll expenditures for employees substantially dedicated to COVID-19 recovery efforts.
Ensure Navajo Nation management re-issues in stale-dated checks before the end of the CRF period of performance end date of December 31, 2022, and ensures that checks are cashed by the beneficiaries, or funds are returned to Treasury. Ensure Navajo Nation management has reversed the subrecipient incurred costs that they determined to be ineligible as a result of their internal investigation.
Treasury OIG determine whether the Navajo Nation properly recorded the expenditures at the appropriate sub-recipient beneficiary level.
Treasury OIG should ensure Navajo Nation management has reversed the $(Amount Redacted) in sub-recipient incurred costs that they determined to be ineligible as a result of their internal investigation.
Desk Review of Pleasant Point Indian Reservation, Maine’s Use of Coronavirus Relief Fund Proceeds
Treasury OIG follow-up on the status of necessary reporting corrections for Contracts greater than or equal to $50,000, Transfers greater than or equal to $50,000, and Aggregate Payments to Individuals.
Treasury Office of Capital Access follow-up to obtain the status of these Single Audits.
Delays Continue to Result in Businesses Not Receiving Pandemic Relief Benefits
On November 22, 2021, we notified the Director, Customer Account Services, Wage and Investment Division, that IRS employees were erroneously suspending Forms 941-X when the amended employment tax return did not include an adjustment to the amount of deferred Social Security tax. We recommended that the Accounts Management function immediately review the Forms 941-X that are identified in the suspense inventory as an adjustment to the amount of deferred Social Security tax to ensure that they are categorized properly.
The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should evaluate the current inventory of backlogged claims related to pandemic relief and develop specific plans to prioritize claims and develop timelines to process backlogged claims.
The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should review the 928 business entities identified that do not appear to qualify as an RSB and take actions needed to recover the ERCs that are determined to be erroneous.
The Commissioner, Small Business/Self-Employed Division, should identify all fourth quarter Tax Year 2021 paper-filed Forms 941 processed prior to when the programming was implemented and identify amended employment tax returns receiving the ERC for which there was no indication that the business was an RSB and take actions needed to recover the ERCs that are determined to be erroneous.
On May 13, 2021, we notified the Director, Examination, Small Business/Self-Employed Division, about the inconsistent referral criteria and recommended that the IRS update referral criteria to include Forms 941-X with refundable credits.
On November 23, 2021, we alerted the Director, Customer Account Services, Wage and Investment Division, that Forms 941-X were not being referred to Examination as required and recommended that the Accounts Management function provide additional guidance to its employees to reinforce established CAT-A referral criteria.
The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should review the 41 Form 941-X claims identified with a nonrefundable COVID-19 related employer credit that meet CAT-A referral criteria and take actions needed to recover credits that are determined to be erroneous.
Provide additional training to employees as it relates to referring Forms 941-X to Examination for review.
Submit a request for the development of a systemic process to identify Form 941-X claims that meet referral criteria and alert the Accounts Management employee when processing these claims of the need to refer the return to Examination.
The CFPB Effectively Monitors Consumer Complaints but Can Enhance Certain Processes
Finalize measurable objectives and establish a completion date for the company-specific reports pilot process.
Establish written guidance for issuing company-specific reports.
Periodically monitor the company-specific reports pilot process to measure its effectiveness in improving company responsiveness.
Delays in Management Actions Contribute to the Continued Tax Processing Center Backlogs
On September 16, 2021, we notified the Director, Submission Processing, Wage and Investment Division, that the IRS needed to identify when to stop coding and editing9 prior year tax returns to prevent having to rework these returns (a situation that occurred during the 2020 Filing Season). For example, the IRS needed to send 822,994 business tax returns back to the Code and Edit function at the beginning of Processing Year 2021 to be re-edited to allow for processing. This occurred because these tax returns, although edited, had not been entered into the IRS’s tax processing system by the end of Processing Year 2020. This resulted in an inefficient use of the IRS’s resources because IRS employees needed to re-edit the tax returns. We recommended that the IRS develop a plan to not only limit the number of returns that would require rework, but also any potential downtime in the Code and Edit function so that resources can be maximized for processing tax returns.
On September 29, 2021, we notified the Director, Submission Processing, Wage and Investment Division, of our observation that paper-filed information returns were being sorted and batched. According to both Tax Processing Centers, a decision had not yet been made regarding if the information return documents will be processed or destroyed. As we reported in September 2021,10 the IRS faced similar decisions during Processing Year 2020 and destroyed approximately 30 million paper-filed information return documents around March 19, 2021, because the documents could no longer be processed through its systems. We recommended that the IRS determine if/when Processing Year 2021 paper-filed information return documents would be processed. As an alternative to destroying these documents, we recommended that management evaluate and consider scanning the information return documents using the Service Center Recognition Image Processing System while forgoing the data validation process.
On September 17, 2021, we notified the Director, Submission Processing, Wage and Investment Division, of our concerns with the processing of a backlog of taxpayer address changes using a first-in/first-out method. As of August 27, 2021, the Ogden Entity function had more than 173,000 address change requests in its ending inventory. In our discussions with Ogden Entity function management, they estimated that due to the backlog of inventory, more than 50 percent of the address change requests the staff were working had already been made by other means, e.g., the filing of a tax return that automatically updates the taxpayer’s address. As such, Entity function employees were needlessly expending resources working address change requests for which the address was already updated. We recommended that the IRS evaluate changing the order in which address changes are worked to a last-in/first-out method.
On October 21, 2021, we notified the Director, Submission Processing, Wage and Investment Division, of our concerns related to the accuracy of information communicated to taxpayers regarding transcript request methods. For example, our review of information posted on IRS.gov found that non-paper-based methods for requesting tax transcripts were not communicated clearly. Whereas, the Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return, and Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return, provide information for automated self-help service tools. We also found that the instructions on the Forms 4506 and 4506-T do not align with the website wording and could cause confusion for taxpayers. We recommended that IRS management update IRS.gov to provide clear communications on available resources. This includes updating the Forms 4506 and 4506-T tip sections to match IRS.gov language and conducting outreach to encourage individual taxpayers to obtain tax transcripts using the various automated methods.
On September 16, 2021, we notified the Director, Submission Processing, Wage and Investment Division, of our concerns about the printing capacity of the new electronic fax (e-fax) equipment in the Error Resolution System functional area, noting that this new equipment can only print about 20,000 to 30,000 pages/month (approximately 240,000/year) whereas, the prior equipment printed roughly 2 million documents per year. In addition, in the three months since Ogden received this new equipment, it has burned out and needed new parts. Although Ogden ordered new multifunctional print devices, those were not to be delivered until January 2022. As a workaround, Ogden used two printers that had a capacity of about 15,000 pages per month. We recommended that the Submission Processing function collaborate with Managed Print Services and the Information Technology organization to identify and expeditiously resolve all instances of printer capacity, break/fix, etc. issues that are causing work stoppages in the Tax Processing Centers.
On December 17, 2021, we notified the Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, of our concern that the resources assigned to the RAIVS unit were not commensurate between the Kansas City and Ogden Tax Processing Centers. In our discussions, IRS management advised that taxpayer tax transcript requests had been previously transshipped from the Kansas City Tax Processing Center to the Austin Tax Processing Center with the last transshipment of work occurring in October 2021. On January 11, 2022, we notified the Director, Submission Processing, Wage and Investment Division, of the same concern noting that during our December 2021 walkthroughs, Kansas City management stated they have 70 full-time employees in the RAIVS/Income Verification Express Service’s unit. Whereas, Ogden management stated they have 183 full-time employees. As of December 10, 2021, the Kansas City RAIVS unit had over 751,000 unprocessed requests compared to a little more than 145,000 unprocessed requests in the Ogden RAIVS unit. We recommended that the IRS evaluate alternatives to address the volume of RAIVS inventory at the Kansas City Tax Processing Center. This should include an evaluation of the capacity to reallocate staffing at the Kansas City Tax Processing Center to assist the RAIVS unit, and/or realignment of work among the various Tax Processing Centers, i.e., transship inventory from Kansas City to Ogden.
The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should immediately take steps to address the imbalance of Tax Processing Center staffing and inventory to address the continued backlog of transcript requests.
The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should develop a detailed strategy to show how current and future staffing resources, including available surge team members, will be used to address the significant backlog of amended returns in the Submission Processing function’s inventory.
The Commissioner, Wage and Investment, should ensure that the various products and IRS.gov landing pages are updated to reflect acceptable methods for faxing information to the IRS.
Improvements Are Needed To Ensure That Public Housing Properties Are Inspected in a Timely Manner
Implement adequate policies, procedures, and controls to ensure that public housing properties will be inspected within required timeframes.
Status
Desk Review of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Use of Coronavirus Relief Fund Proceeds
Department of the Treasury (Treasury) Office of Inspector General (OIG) follow-up with Virginia management on necessary reporting corrections related to expenditure category descriptions. Specifically, items not listed above (INLA) expenditure category description corrections are needed in the Contracts greater than or equal to $50,000, Grants greater than or equal to $50,000, Transfers greater than or equal to $50,000, and Direct Payments greater than or equal to $50,000 payment types.
Treasury OIG pursue obtaining documentation from Virginia management for Contracts greater than or equal to $50,000, Transfers greater than or equal to $50,000, Direct Payments greater than or equal to $50,000, Aggregate Reporting less than $50,000, and Aggregate Payments to Individuals. Based on Virginia’s responsiveness to Treasury OIG’s requests and its ability to provide documentation, Castro recommends that Treasury OIG determine if a focused audit is feasible for Contracts, Transfers, and Direct Payments greater than or equal to $50,000, as well as Aggregate Reporting less than $50,000 and Aggregate Payments to Individuals.
Treasury OIG work with Virginia management to determine whether there are any additional costs attributable to Virginia Department of Emergency Management and Virginia Department of Health and to ensure that Virginia management makes any necessary corrections to those balances.
Treasury’s Office of Capital Access to ensure that management decision letters are issued on the findings identified by the auditor in the Single Audit report.
Management Alert: Deceased Participants in the Central States’ Special Financial Assistance Calculation
Update Multiemployer Special Financial Assistance Division’s and Negotiations and Restructuring Actuarial Department’s procedures to include steps to ensure deceased participants, from all participant categories, be excluded from SFA calculations.
The Child Tax Credit Update Portal Was Successfully Deployed, but Security and Process Improvements Are Needed
Ensure that the ELC coaches comply with existing agency requirements related to the independent verification and validation of all ELC artifacts.
Ensure that the ELC coaches comply with existing agency requirements related to the independent verification and validation of all ELC artifacts.
Ensure that the ELC coaches comply with existing agency requirements related to the independent verification and validation of all ELC artifacts.
Prioritize remediation efforts on the two noncompliant SADI system servers that have weighted noncompliance scores of less than 90 percent.
Prioritize remediation efforts on the two noncompliant SADI system servers that have weighted noncompliance scores of less than 90 percent.
Prioritize remediation efforts on the two noncompliant SADI system servers that have weighted noncompliance scores of less than 90 percent.
Ensure that only authorized approving authorities provide status updates and grant final approval of ELC artifacts during required milestone reviews.
Ensure that only authorized approving authorities provide status updates and grant final approval of ELC artifacts during required milestone reviews.
Ensure that only authorized approving authorities provide status updates and grant final approval of ELC artifacts during required milestone reviews.
Establish a formal process, which includes routine updates, to identify primary and proxy approvers for all ELC artifacts.
Establish a formal process, which includes routine updates, to identify primary and proxy approvers for all ELC artifacts.
Establish a formal process, which includes routine updates, to identify primary and proxy approvers for all ELC artifacts.
The Chief Information Officer should ensure that systems supported by the CSPs have an approved IRS ATO prior to a system’s deployment.
The Chief Information Officer should ensure that systems supported by the CSPs have an approved IRS ATO prior to a system’s deployment.
The Chief Information Officer should ensure that systems supported by the CSPs have an approved IRS ATO prior to a system’s deployment.
The Chief Privacy Officer should establish a process that complies with Office of Management and Budget requirements regarding the selection, implementation, assessment, and continuous monitoring of privacy controls.
The Chief Privacy Officer should ensure that formal documentation is created that shows that all the privacy controls applicable to the SADI system are properly selected, implemented, and assessed.
The Chief Privacy Officer should ensure that formal documentation is created that shows that all the privacy controls applicable to the SADI system are properly selected, implemented, and assessed.
The Chief Privacy Officer should ensure that formal documentation is created that shows that all the privacy controls applicable to the SADI system are properly selected, implemented, and assessed.
The Chief Information Officer should ensure that the Cybersecurity function validates that all required NIST physical and environmental protection and media protection controls are implemented.
The Chief Information Officer should ensure that the Cybersecurity function validates that all required NIST physical and environmental protection and media protection controls are implemented.
The Chief Information Officer should ensure that the Cybersecurity function validates that all required NIST physical and environmental protection and media protection controls are implemented.
The Chief Information Officer should ensure that the IRS prioritizes completing the processes that will validate newly built servers being placed into the production environment meet minimum compliance requirements and initiate vulnerability scanning and remediation during the server build process.
The Chief Information Officer should ensure that the IRS prioritizes completing the processes that will validate newly built servers being placed into the production environment meet minimum compliance requirements and initiate vulnerability scanning and remediation during the server build process.
The Chief Information Officer should ensure that the IRS prioritizes completing the processes that will validate newly built servers being placed into the production environment meet minimum compliance requirements and initiate vulnerability scanning and remediation during the server build process.
Ensure that all CTC Update Portal and SADI system associated POA&Ms (listed in Appendix II) are completed timely based on IRS-defined timelines and processes.