Tuesday, October 29, 2013
TIGTA: IRS Cannot Account for 23% of its IT Assets
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today released Weaknesses in Asset Management Controls Leave Information Technology Assets Vulnerable to Loss (2013-20-089):
The IRS Information Technology organization controls more than 306,000 information technology assets worth almost $720 million using the Knowledge, Incident/Problem, Service Asset Management (KISAM) system. Our review determined that weaknesses in controls over asset management create an environment in which information technology assets are vulnerable to loss. The risk of loss, theft, or the inadvertent release of sensitive information can decrease the public’s confidence in the IRS’s ability to monitor and use its resources effectively.
TIGTA found that information technology asset data successfully migrated from the legacy inventory system to the KISAM–Asset Manager. However, the audit log used to capture events was not being reviewed to ensure that only appropriate accesses were made. In addition, information technology asset data within the KISAM–Asset Manager are inaccurate and incomplete because the IRS is not following its procedures to ensure that all assets are accurately recorded and timely updated in the KISAM–Asset Manager.
TIGTA also found that ineffective inventory controls created an environment where information technology assets are vulnerable to loss. TIGTA selected 146 information technology assets to physically verify and could not locate and verify or find proper supporting documentation for 34 information technology assets worth more than $948,000. In addition, IRS offices improperly completed the annual inventory reconciliation process.
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2013/10/tigta-irs-cannot-.html
Comments
The DRILL SGT - The Federal government has not had a clean financial statement audit, as performed by GAO, for a very, very, very long time. So, yes, where they a listed firm, they would have been delisted long ago.
Some of these problems are, as with the IRS, just bad management. Others are more interesting--it is hard to account for some odd military assets. DOD is a perennial problem in the GAO audit.
Posted by: J Dawg | Oct 30, 2013 5:40:33 AM
So what? The job of the IRS is to keep track of YOUR assets and seize as many of them as possible.
Posted by: Person of Choler | Oct 29, 2013 10:02:11 PM
Am I correct in thinking that a Public Corporation that failed Asset accountability for $3/4 billion in assets would not pass a financial audit? And that the IRS would go bananas? As would the SEC?
Why aren't Public Agencies held to the standards they enforce?
Posted by: The DRILL SGT | Oct 29, 2013 9:36:15 PM
Dear gump:
Not wrong, just Neanderthal; i.e., lacking delicacy.
Posted by: Braveheart | Oct 30, 2013 3:34:27 PM