In the middle of tax season, the head of the IRS admitted that, on average, at least half of his employees are still working from home — even though the emergency declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic expired nearly a year ago.
On Thursday, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel told the House Ways and Means Committee that his agency was aligned with the “government-wide standard” for remote vs. in-office work. That guideline says only 50% of workers must be in the office.
At the IRS headquarters in Washington, Werfel admitted it was likely less than half of employees who show up daily.
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During the hearing, as reported by the conservative Media Research Center, Republican lawmakers raised the issue of delays in service and potential security risks.
Rep. David Kustoff, R-Tenn., discussed the risk of home-based workers being vulnerable to others seeing taxpayers’ data while they worked on cases.
Werfel asserted that his staff is “rigidly and relentlessly” monitoring the security of taxpayers’ data.
Yet Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan. Seemed skeptical. “How can somebody in a remote location be handling those tax returns? That just seems to me that it’s not doing the job.”
Werfel also faced scrutiny from Florida GOP Rep. Greg Steube, who questioned why the IRS needs 20 weeks to process returns for people who must amend their filings — a key concern for people in Florida and elsewhere who were affected by a natural disaster.
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In that case, Werfel attributed the delay to an antiquated processing system that requires the IRS to deal with amended returns on paper instead of being filed electronically.
The IRS is having issues in other areas.
Last month, the National Taxpayer Advocate, the agency’s internal watchdog, reported that IRS officials answered just 29% of phone calls to the agency.
That was down from 35% the year earlier.
Also last month, the conservative group Americans for Tax Reform noted that the IRS still allows employees to use personal devices to access, transmit, process and retain taxpayers’ information under a program called “Bring Your Own Device.”
The IRS is in no rush to end that program despite identified concerns with “data leakage.”
“If housemates, significant others and kids have access to these personal devices at home, common sense indicates there are more opportunities for sensitive data breaches,” the group said.
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Ironically, on the same day he testified about the staff work-from-home ratios, Werfel sent an email to employees saying the agency would strive to hit the in-office mark of 50%, but that would nto take effect until May 5.
Hey also noted that the directive was largely targeted at employees in the Washington metro area, where most of its leadership and senior staff work.
“As new employees enter the IRS, it’s even more important for senior staff to be in the office to help share institutional knowledge with team members and ensure continuity for the next generation of IRS staff,” Werfel wrote in the email, according to the website Federal News Network.
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