WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Oversight Subcommittee Ranking Member John Lewis (D-GA), Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA), and Members of the Subcommittee sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requesting Acting Commissioner David Kautter provide answers to a series of questions regarding the agency’s systems crash that occurred on Tax Day, April 17, 2018. Led by Congresswoman DelBene, the Members ask for Kautter’s responses to a series of questions, including what caused the technical issue, whether any taxpayers’ personal information was compromised, and how the IRS repaired the system failure.
“While we were relieved that the IRS resumed operations of the impacted, electronic services by the end of Tax Day and provided a deadline extension to taxpayers, we would like to understand how this significant disruption of service transpired,” wrote the Members. “Our hope is that this will not reoccur in the future.”
The IRS systems that failed on Tax Day are those that allow taxpayers who owe taxes to pay online without incurring fees or penalties. The system failure also affected Direct Pay and other online taxpayer services, including Where’s My Refund.
The Members requested Acting Commissioner Kautter respond to their inquiry by May 4, 2018.
Full text of the letter is available here.