Oops, they did it again! Audit finds more credit card trouble at IRS

By M.D. Kittle | Wisconsin Reporter

MADISON – Dogged by accusations of partisanship and lavish spending, the Internal Revenue Service is under fire again for questionable credit card expenses, including $140 per-guest dinners.

A new audit by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration – the IRS’s auditor – found the tax agency does not have controls in place to prevent improper purchases on government-issued credit cards.

IRS staff made more than 273,000 “micro-purchases” (of up to $3,000) totaling nearly $108 million in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2011, according to TIGTA. During that period, 98 percent of the 367 purchase cards of employees who left the IRS were not closed before the employees’ departure.

TIGTA believes this could leave the IRS vulnerable to misuse,” the audit states. “Further, the controls the IRS currently has in place do not include a review specifically designed to detect personal use.”

While the majority of IRS cardholders appear to use their purchase cards properly, the audit found “some instances of inappropriate use.”

Questionable purchases include improper decorative and give-away items for managers’ meetings and Combined Federal Campaign fundraising events.

IRS reps who entertained foreign officials were found to have used purchase cards to pay for multiple lunches, dinners and related alcohol purchases, according to the audit.

“For example, one dinner had an approximate cost of $140 per guest and another lunch cost $100 per guest,” the report states.