“The Treasury Department has instructed the IRS to conduct a prompt review of its practices to ensure necessary protections are in place.”
The IRS briefly made public the personal financial information of roughly 120,000 taxpayers, the agency announced on Friday.
Taxpayers’ Form 990-Ts were temporarily available to public viewing on the IRS website, but the agency has since removed them, according to the Wall Street Journal. Individuals file the form to disclose certain types of income within their retirement accounts.
The forms included names and contact information of the filers, as well as significant portions of their financial records. The Treasury, however, noted that it did not include social security numbers or information that could directly impact individuals’ credit, per the WSJ.
Treasury Department acting Assistant Secretary for Management Anna Canfield Roth wrote to Congress on Friday informing them that her department was “continuing to review this situation,”
“The Treasury Department has instructed the IRS to conduct a prompt review of its practices to ensure necessary protections are in place to prevent unauthorized data disclosures,” she continued.
News of the data breach comes amid fears over the IRS’s hiring of 87,000 new agents following the passage of a $740 billion spending package which allocated more funding to the agency.
Adding to Americans’ worries is an IRS job posting requiring that applicants “be willing to use deadly force, if necessary” and reports that the tax collection group is purchasing ammunition.
By Ben Whedon
