IRS Could Review Previously Processed ITINs for Fraud Patterns

According to Accounting Today, the IRS and TIGTA have almost made up.  Not entirely, but TIGTA is letting the IRS move back into the house (personification- no actual move took place). While the IRS is only, at this point, satisfying 7 of 9 measures that TIGTA wants to see, the Service plans to really work hard to make TIGTA happy.

Due to the fraud scandal within the ITIN department when officials were encouraging the “turning of the head” to questionable applications, the Interim Period took place, was horrible, and is now over. The changes encouraged by TIGTA were put into place and together they have strengthened the integrity of the ITIN.

TIGTA recommended that the IRS develop computer programming to flag ITIN applications that contain characteristics of previously identified questionable ITIN applications. Moreover, actions have not been taken to analyze information from previously processed ITIN applications to identify indicators of questionable applications that could be used to proactively identify similar applications during processing.

So, they developed an indicator system, great! And they have NOT YET taken action to analyze information from previously processed ITIN applications. Wait, what? Did these not-yet reviewed processed applications result in the assigning of a number? My apologies, I keep forgetting that it comes with no rights, but who doesn’t love a witch hunt, amirite?!