TIGTA: IRS May Have Allowed 60% Of Former Employees (Including Those Subject To Disciplinary Proceedings) Access To Buildings, Computers

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has released Access to Government Facilities and Computers Is Not Always Removed When Employees Separate (2016-10-038):

During Fiscal Year 2014, more than 4,100 full-time, permanent employees separated from the IRS, including 186 who separated during a pending disciplinary case (including criminal misconduct). It is important for the IRS to recover security items, such as Government identification, to prevent former employees from unauthorized entry to IRS facilities and workspaces, accessing IRS computers and taxpayer information, or potentially misrepresenting themselves to taxpayers. ...

Based on a random sample of Fiscal Year 2014 employee separations, TIGTA estimates that the IRS could not verify that all security items were recovered for more than 2,700 (66 percent) of the more than 4,100 employee separations. TIGTA also reviewed a judgmental sample of 10 employees who separated during a pending disciplinary case. The IRS could not verify the recovery of the security items for six of these employees and could not provide evidence that these cases were referred to the TIGTA Office of Investigations as required. When the IRS did not collect security items, some were later used to enter IRS buildings.

In addition, managers did not document all security items that should be recovered and listed some items for recovery that were not assigned to the separating employees. For example, 87 managers from our random sample of separated employees indicated former employees were issued keys; however, only one of these managers listed keys as a recoverable item. In addition, 65 managers indicated that non-enforcement pocket commissions were recovered, although records indicated that these items were never assigned to the employees.