Paul Ryan and the FBI are on the case after the IRS hack and hackers gained access to more than 100,000 tax accounts.
- Paul Ryan (R-WI) wants the truth…but can he handle to truth?
- Ryan, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, wants answers from the IRS regarding its recent data breach exposing 100,000 tax returns, which could be used for fraud.
- In a letter to the IRS, Ryan wants to know how and when the agency became aware of the breach, who they believe is behind the breach and how the returns affected were selected. According to Ryan, “the IRS has a responsibility to protect taxpayer information from unauthorized access and attacks. Clearly, the agency needs to do more.”
- But…a new report says that the IRS has been doing better at preventing identity theft in recent years. A recent audit conducted by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for 2012 found 787,343 potentially fraudulent returns that were failed to be uncovered, worth more then $2.1 billion. This is down from 2011, when 1.1 million records were discovered worth roughly $3.6 billion.
- The FBI is on the case, stating “the compromise of government systems and theft of taxpayer data are taken very seriously, and the FBI and IRS will aggressively pursue and hold accountable those responsible for this recent incident.”
- Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George told the Senate Finance Committee that the breach of taxpayer information was not solely the work of a Russian hacking syndicate because “the domains are located in other nations, in addition to Russia.” George told committee Chairman Orrin Hatch that he would give him more details in private.