WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa on Tuesday asked the IRS to account for an inadequate fraud detection system and delays in implementing a new system.
“Identity theft to commit tax fraud is already a $5 billion per year problem,” Grassley said. “The IRS puts taxpayers at risk for fraud in using an inadequate system and delaying a better system. This will be an even bigger concern if the new system isn’t in place by the time the number of people filing tax returns increases under Obamacare next year.”
Grassley wrote to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, asking for an explanation of why the IRS continues to rely on the Electronic Fraud Detection System, which may not even be operable beyond this year, and has yet to finish a new system, called the Return Review Program (RPP).
Grassley said the precarious fraud detection system could become more acute under Obamacare, as the health care law allows for refundable credits, which are especially vulnerable to fraud, and many people will file tax returns for the first time beginning in 2015. “This will result in an increase of millions of tax returns in January 2015,” Grassley wrote. “If the RRP is not operational by then, the results could be disastrous.”
The text of Grassley’s letter is available here.
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