IRS watchdog: Contractors who failed background checks maintained access to sensitive agency systems

A new IRS inspector general report says the agency continued to give 19 contractors access to sensitive systems despite failing background reports as recently as last July. The Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration issued a report this week, saying, “These contractors still retained their access to one or more sensitive systems because the IRS did not take action to suspend or disable the contractors from the IRS’s systems, as required.” An IRS spokesperson would not disclose how long the contracts had access due to privacy issues. IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel says four of the contractors have since been fired and the 15 others have passed new background checks.