The Internal Revenue Service needs to improve its security control processes and develop a fraud mitigation strategy concerning its administration of premium tax credits under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to a federal audit.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration audit found the IRS has completed development and testing of the premium tax credit computation engine needed to administer the subsidies, which are available to some individuals to help cover the cost of coverage purchased through the PPACA exchanges.
However, the audit also concluded configuration and change management controls and interagency test management process controls for the tax credit project need improvement, in addition to the security and fraud mitigation issues.
The TIGTA recommendations for the IRS to correct these flaws include implementing a plan to correct the failed security test and completing development of an antifraud plan. However, the IRS disagreed with the recommendation concerning the security tests, saying it already has policies in place that satisfy that suggestion.
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