Emerging Tech
Pilot IRS to Return with New Focus Areas and Significantly More Funding
In the next three to six months, the IRS plans to issue new solicitations through its experimental contracting vehicle.
People
IRS wants $300 million for IT modernization in 2021
The agency is planning IT modernization and security initiatives while also adding more than 100 new special agents focused on cybercrime and virtual currencies.
Digital Government
GAO Calls Out IRS’ Taxpayer Experience Issues
The 2019 tax filing season was more problematic than usual for IRS.
Modernization
IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete With TurboTax
The changes come after ProPublica’s reporting showed how TurboTax maker Intuit tricked customers into paying for tax prep they could have gotten for free.
People
Shutdown threat stokes financial anxiety among feds
A new survey says annual leave, travel, spending are down as feds budget for furloughs or missing paychecks.
Cybersecurity
Cybercrime at the center of IRS investigations in 2019
Officials from the agency's criminal investigations unit touted a major shift over the past year towards multi-stakeholder partnerships to investigate cybercrime and cryptocurrencies in financial crime.
Modernization
Key EIS transition deadline looms
Agencies are entering a critical time for telecom transitions as March deadline to limit activity on an expiring contract vehicle approaches.
Cybersecurity
Cryptocurrency tracking improves -- but how?
The IRS and other tax enforcement agencies are touting big improvements in tracing the use of cryptocurrencies in tax evasion and other criminal schemes. They just don't want to talk about how.
Digital Government
Security, modernization and people are key IRS challenges
The IRS should focus the next year on modernizing IT, improving security controls for its primary e-filing tool, eliminating critical vulnerabilities in servers used for personal devices and addressing its "serious" human capital crisis, according to Treasury auditors.
Modernization
Inside TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans From Filing Their Taxes for Free
The success of TurboTax relies on whether the U.S. government makes tax filing simple and free for most citizens.
Modernization
IRS-Funded Review Confirms TurboTax Hid Free Filing From Search Engines, but Says There’s No Need for Major Changes
The review did not recommend sweeping changes
Modernization
$341M telecom task order key to IRS modernization
The IRS plans to support modernization of customer-facing operations via its Enterprise Infrastructure Services buy.
Digital Government
Report: IRS Should Have an Official In Charge of Customer Experience
The agency could also improve its website and share more feedback, analysts conclude in first-of-its-kind report.
Modernization
Two more big agencies issue EIS task orders
The Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service both signed off on EIS contracts last month.
Cybersecurity
IRS Testing Behavioral Analytics to Verify Online Users
The agency is piloting a proof-of-concept that will track how individual taxpayers interact with its online systems.
Cybersecurity
Treasury IG Finds ‘Significant Vulnerabilities’ in IRS’ BYOD Program
The IRS’ bring-your-own-device program could increase the risk of data leakage, according to the Treasury Inspector General.
Modernization
Treasury floats $1B cloud buy
The Department of Treasury has released a new acquisition road map designed to shepherd the IRS into the cloud era while emphasizing buying to support shared services.
Emerging Tech
Federal RPA Solutions Have One Thing In Common: No Two Are Alike
Robotic process automation leads from across government and industry met this week to share early lessons learned from efforts to automate federal agencies.
Cybersecurity
IRS identity theft enforcement activities plummet
In the latest sign enforcement has taken a back seat, a new audit finds that new identity theft cases at the resource-strapped agency have dropped by at least 75% since 2013.
Cybersecurity