PDF - Department of the Treasury

Protect the Integrity
of Tax Administration
T
he overall mission of TIGTA’s Office
of Investigations (OI) is to help protect
the ability of the IRS to collect revenue for
the Federal Government. To do this, we
conduct investigations and proactive
investigative initiatives to ensure the
integrity of IRS employees, contractors,
and other tax professionals; to ensure IRS
employee and infrastructure security; and
to protect the IRS against external attempts
to corrupt tax administration.
OI’s Primary Duties
• Investigate allegations of criminal
violations that impact Federal tax
administration, and serious
administrative misconduct by
IRS employees;
• Conduct proactive investigative
initiatives to detect criminal and
administrative misconduct in the
administration of IRS programs;
• Operate a national complaint center,
including a hotline and Web site, to
process complaints of fraud, waste,
abuse and misconduct involving IRS
employees and programs;
• Operate a Criminal Intelligence
Program to manage and coordinate
threat information that could impact the
security of IRS employees or its
infrastructure; and,
• Investigate assaults and threats made
against IRS employees, facilities, and
information systems.
TIGTA’s statutory responsibility includes
not only the protection and detection of
fraud, waste and abuse within the IRS,
but also includes responsibility for the
protection of the integrity of
tax administration.
In recent years, the IRS has increasingly
relied upon contractor support within all
facets of its operation. With this change,
schemes to defraud the IRS have evolved.
TIGTA has responded to this challenge by
placing a greater emphasis on the
following activities:
• investigating fraud involving IRS
procurements; and,
• conducting integrity and fraud
awareness presentations for IRS
employees and others, such as tax
practitioners and community groups.
Recognizing the challenges of protecting
Federal tax administration in today’s
modern environment, OI has three
divisions dedicated to the technical support
of TIGTA’s investigative mission. They
are: Strategic Enforcement, Forensic
Science Laboratory, and Technical and
Firearms Support. The performance of
these divisions is featured throughout this
chapter of our semiannual report.
April 1, 2005 to September 30, 2005 23