Watchdog Flags IRS Access to 30 Taxpayers’ Records

A Treasury watchdog found that 52 Internal Revenue Service employees made 86 suspicious accesses to the tax records of 30 taxpayers between 2022 and 2025, identifying weaknesses in controls meant to detect unauthorized browsing and protect taxpayer privacy. The records belonged to government officials, business leaders and entertainers, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). The 86 accesses were flagged as suspicious and referred for investigation. TIGTA’s findings do not establish that the searches resulted in disclosure or misuse of taxpayer information. The watchdog concluded that the IRS’s unauthorized-access program, known as UNAX, was not adequately addressing the risk of employees accessing accounts without authorization. The review also found gaps in employee discipline and taxpayer notification. TIGTA identified 22 employees who were not terminated after unauthorized access. In a separate review of 53 confirmed unauthorized-access cases from fiscal years 2023 through 2025, the agency retained 22 employees, and all received some form of discipline.