GAO: Delays and Cost Overruns Persist in IRS Modernization Plan

The Internal Revenue Service's Business Systems Modernization, a $200 million-plus effort to upgrade the service's systems and processes, is moving ahead, but several of the project's milestones have been riddled by completion delays and cost overruns, the Government Accountability Office said. Specifically, the GAO cited the Customer Account Data Engine -- the new taxpayer information database -- as exceeding its planned schedule by 66 percent and experiencing a 15 percent cost increase; a companion project to the CADE incurred a 153 percent cost overrun; and the modernized e-file program experienced a 41 percent schedule delay.