IRS Gets Better at Replacing Old Computers

The Internal Revenue Service has significantly improved its ability to identify and replace aging computers, according to a new government report.

The report, by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, noted that the IRS purchases new computers to replace aging equipment through its Sustaining Infrastructure Program. A November 2007 TIGTA report recommended several improvements to the IRS’s processes for replacing computer hardware that has reached or surpassed its useful life. TIGTA conducted the review at the IRS’s request.

TIGTA’s new report found that the IRS has implemented a process for identifying, reviewing, prioritizing, and making decisions on funding the replacement of aged computer hardware and is developing the capability to associate information technology problems with the aged hardware that caused the problem. The improved capability could result in as much as $12.3 million in cost savings and $16.4 million in revenue collection increases, according to the report.

“Taxpayers and IRS employees rely heavily on the information technology infrastructure to ensure satisfaction of tax liabilities, quick resolution of issues, and the security of confidential taxpayer information,” said TIGTA Inspector General J. Russell George in a statement. “The IRS is to be commended for these improvements,” he added.

TIGTA did not make any recommendations in the report.