Reports
Illinois State Board of Education’s Oversight of American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Subgrants to Local Educational Agencies
The purpose of the audit is to determine whether the Illinois State Board of Education has an adequate oversight process in place to ensure that (1) local educational agencies’ (LEAs) American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ARP ESSER) plans met applicable requirements and (2) LEAs use ARP ESSER funds in accordance with applicable requirements and the approved LEA ARP ESSER plan.
Destruction of Paper-Filed Information Returns
TIGTA is initiating a review to evaluate the IRS's destruction of unprocessed Tax Year 2019 paper-filed information returns. The overall objective of this audit is to assess the actions taken to mitigate the risk to the IRS and taxpayers associated with the approximately 30 million unprocessed non-ACA information returns destroyed in March 2021. TIGTA will determine if: (1) the IRS evaluated alternatives to destroying unprocessed Tax Year 2019 information returns and whether the classification of these returns as classified waste is consistent with applicable laws, regulations, and policies; (2) followed classified waste processes for the 30 million unprocessed paper-filed information returns that were destroyed; and, (3) assessed and quantified the impact of the destruction of the 30 million paper-filed information returns on taxpayers and its compliance programs.
Federal Student Aid's Use of Pandemic Assistance Student Aid Administration Funds
The objective of our review is to determine FSA’s progress on spending student aid administration funds authorized by coronavirus response and relief laws, including how those funds have been used to date and FSA’s plans for using remaining funds.
Kentucky Department of Education’s Oversight of American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Subgrants to Local Educational Agencies
The purpose of the audit is to determine whether the Kentucky Department of Education has an adequate oversight process in place to ensure that (1) local educational agencies’ American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund plans met applicable requirements and (2) LEAs use ARP ESSER funds in accordance with applicable requirements and the approved LEA ARP ESSER plan.
Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Oversight of American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Subgrants to Local Educational Agencies
The purpose of the audit is to determine whether the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has an adequate oversight process in place to ensure that (1) local educational agencies’ American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief plans met applicable requirements and (2) LEAs use ARP ESSER funds in accordance with applicable requirements and the approved LEA ARP ESSER plan.
Review of Social Security Tax Deferral Repayment
TIGTA is initiating a review to evaluate the IRS's efforts to ensure that taxpayers repay their deferred Social Security taxes as required. TIGTA plans to evaluate whether accurate reminder notices were sent to taxpayers who deferred their Social Security tax during Tax Year 2020, whether taxpayers made their required repayment of deferred Social Security taxes by December 31, 2021, and whether appropriate penalties and interest were assessed on taxpayers who did not timely repay their deferred Social Security tax.
Continued Assessment of IRS's Efforts to Address the Backlog During Filing Season 2022
TIGTA is initiating a review to assess the IRS's actions to address the backlog of unworked returns and inventories during Filing Season 2022. This will include evaluating: progress to ensure that the Tax Processing Centers are adequately staffed to meet workload demands; effectiveness of the Submission Processing function’s Inventory Reduction Teams in addressing backlogged inventories; effectiveness of management in identifying and implementing process improvements to increase efficiency of tax processing and reduce taxpayer burden; and, impact on the IRS’s Files Management function due to the closures of and limited staffing at the Federal Record Centers.
American Rescue Plan Act Advance Child Tax Credit Tax Filing Reconciliation for Individuals
TIGTA is initiating a review of the reconciliation of the advance Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments made to individuals during CY 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. TIGTA will assess the following: accuracy of the IRS's outreach and assistance to individuals regarding the reconciliation of the advance CTC payments on TY 2021 tax returns; updates to the business rules relating to CTC, ACTC, and Credits for Other Dependents and changes made to the error resolution codes to ensure they are functioning as intended; the processing of tax returns to ensure that the IRS is properly calculating the CTC and applying Safe Harbor rules; the IRS's processes and procedures to address taxpayer accounts with advance CTC payment reversals since the issuance of the Letter 6419; and, the IRS's fraud filters and compliance plans to determine if there are adequate controls to identify potentially erroneous CTC claims.
Continued Review of Premium Tax Credit Rules under the American Rescue Plan Act
TIGTA is initiating a review to assess the IRS's actions to implement legislative changes to the Premium Tax Credit (PTC) made by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The overall objective is to assess the adequacy of processes and procedures to ensure expanded PTC eligibility requirements are met prior to credits being allowed. TIGTA plans to ensure forms and publications have been updated, assess the accuracy of the processing of PTC claims during 2022, ensure that individuals who can claim additional child tax credit due to the Advance PTC adjustment receives appropriate notices, and assess the current process to help taxpayers who report on the PTC form that they are a victim of domestic violence.
Reconciliation of the American Rescue Plan Act Recovery Rebate Credit During the 2022 Filing Season
TIGTA is initiating a review to evaluate the effectiveness of the Internal Revenue Service’s reconciliation of advance payments issued and Recovery Rebate Credit (RRC) claims during the 2022 Filing Season. The overall objective of this audit is to assess the processing of the RRC claims during the 2022 Filing Season, including ensuring that taxpayers properly reconcile advanced payments received during CY 2021. Specifically TIGTA will assess the IRS's outreach and assistance to individuals regarding RRC. Ensure the RRC computed by the IRS is accurate and TY 2021 tax returns with an RRC claim are processed correctly. Ensure eligible individuals who did not receive their advance ARPA payments receive the correct RRC amounts. And, determine whether the IRS took sufficient actions to prevent ineligible individuals from receiving erroneous RRC.