IRS
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A recent cyber breach leaves the Internal Revenue Service with more questions than answers about its online authentication system. But the IRS knows the data systems it built decades ago aren\'t useful any more. Visitors to the agency\'s Get Transcript portal are easy targets, because hackers already knew the answers to many of the knowledge based authentication questions they answered to enter the portal. Jeremy Grant, an identity management consultant and former senior executive advisor for identity management at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, tells In Depth with Francis Rose about what lessons government learn about identity management.
June 03, 2015 -
\"We can\'t just put a smiley face on everything and say it\'s good,\" said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who led two days of hearings on agencies\' attempts to fulfill Freedom of Information Act requests. He vowed to push reform legislation through Congress.
June 03, 2015 -
The Internal Revenue Service\'s Get Transcript system remains offline after criminals stole data from 104,000 taxpayers. The IRS and its overseers agree the authentication mechanisms the site used failed to keep pace with hackers.
June 03, 2015 -
The IRS, its inspector general and private security experts told the Senate Tuesday that the security protections that hackers overcame to steal data on more than 100,000 taxpayers have outlived their usefulness. The challenge now is finding an alternative that\'s more secure, but not so complicated that no one will use it. Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu has the details.
June 02, 2015 -
Federal employees across the government have been watching the IRS and the challenges it has with its workforce. Commissioner John Koskinen said this year will be the last year for a hiring freeze, as the agency has to replenish a staff that's aging in place with thousands eligible to retire. This sounds like good news for IRS employees. But is it? Federal News Radio's Web manager Julia Ziegler joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to share with some of your comments.
April 03, 2015 -
The Internal Revenue Service has frozen or severely restricted all new hiring for the past several years in response to budget cuts. But IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told senior agency officials to lift the freeze next year.
April 01, 2015 -
The commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service says this is the last year his agency will impose a hiring freeze -- not because the IRS' budget situation has gotten any better, but because several consecutive years of freezes have brought the demographics of its workforce severely out of whack, with very few young employees in its ranks. Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu has more details.
March 31, 2015 -
The Fiscal Year 2016 budget the House passed Wednesday calls on federal employees to make greater contributions to their retirement plans, while altering the Thrift Savings Plan's G Fund. The budget also seeks to reduce the civilian workforce by 10 percent over the next 10 years through attrition.
March 26, 2015 -
In 18th century Paris, the cry "off with their heads" was directed mainly at aristocrats, many of whom had been living a little too high off the hog. In 21st century Washington, folks nominated for the chop are guilty of one heinous crime. They are taxpayers who also happen to work for the Internal Revenue Service, says Senior Correspondent Mike Causey.
March 26, 2015 -
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee passed two bills Wednesday - one that would fire tax-delinquent federal employees and another that prevents agencies from awarding contracts or grants to companies with tax debt. More than 100,000 employees in the federal workforce currently owe a total of $3.54 billion in federal taxes.
March 25, 2015 -
By PHILIP ELLIOTT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Promising to abolish the Internal Revenue Service is a good talking point for political candidates who are looking to fire up the Republicans’ most conservative voters. It’s…
March 25, 2015 -
Improper payments from the federal government reached an all-time high last year. They totaled more than $124 billion — a $19 billion increase from the previous high of $105 billion. That's according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. White House officials are examining this trend and looking for ways to head improper payments down again. Danny Werfel, a former Controller in the Office of Management and Budget and now a Director with the Boston Consulting Group, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more on how they might to do that.
March 19, 2015 -
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) is expected to reintroduce a bill to make it easier for agencies to fire or not hire people with "serious" tax debt. But some lawmakers say the process the IRS uses may be a better option than legislation.
March 19, 2015 -
IRS Commissioner John Koskinen says the agency won't have to shut down for two days this fiscal year, as he earlier had warned employees. The IRS can make its current budget last until September because of other cuts it has made, he said.
March 18, 2015 -
Colleen Kelley will be stepping down after four terms as president of the National Treasury Employees Union.
March 04, 2015