Tax Administration: The Internal Revenue Service Can Improve Its Management of Paper Case Files

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Proper paper case file management is a significant issue for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) because its staff investigate and close millions of case files every year. In addition, IRS employees depend heavily on case files when pursuing enforcement actions. GAO was asked to review IRS's case file storage, tracking, and documentation processes to determine whether IRS has (1) an effective process to ensure that paper case files can be located timely and (2) sufficient data to assess the performance of its paper case file processes. To review these processes, GAO interviewed staff who request case files and case file managers.