IRS still plagued by ‘serious’ control problems

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) continues to express criticism of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), noting it has had to put processes in place to make up for its ‘serious internal control and financial management systems deficiencies’.

The ‘IRS continues to lack accurate, useful and timely financial information and sound controls with which to make informed decisions day-to-day to ensure ongoing accountability,’ states the GAO annual IRS audit opinion, released last Friday.

Because of IRS's multiple information-systems problems, the GAO is concerned about its future ability to determine whether IRS's financial statements are fairly stated, CFO.com reports.

Although GAO did praise IRS for making ‘significant’ improvement, it noted repeatedly IRS's progress would continue to be hampered by the legacy of its financial-management systems.

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