The Internal Revenue Service, which is responsible for collecting federal taxes and enforcing federal tax law, was unable to accurately deal with its own complex rules governing the payment of its own employees and ended up overpaying more than 600 IRS workers about $4,200,000, according to an audit report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
The IRS also underpaid more than 900 employees about $2,700,000, according to TIGTA's estimate.
The inspector general found that the IRS’s rules for how it determines the correct pay for one of its own employees when he or she is promoted to a management position are “confusing.”
“The procedures for setting pay require the application of cumbersome and oftentimes confusing rules that vary depending on, among other things, the nature of the promotion, the salary history of the employee, and the management position the employee will be occupying,” the inspector general said in a report entitled, “Some Managerial Salaries Were Calculated Incorrectly Due to Complex Pay-Setting Rules.”
The IG audited a sample of the pay records of nearly 5,000 IRS management-level employees who received pay increases of more than 10 percent over a ten-year period.
The IRS also underpaid more than 900 employees about $2,700,000, according to TIGTA's estimate.
The inspector general found that the IRS’s rules for how it determines the correct pay for one of its own employees when he or she is promoted to a management position are “confusing.”
“The procedures for setting pay require the application of cumbersome and oftentimes confusing rules that vary depending on, among other things, the nature of the promotion, the salary history of the employee, and the management position the employee will be occupying,” the inspector general said in a report entitled, “Some Managerial Salaries Were Calculated Incorrectly Due to Complex Pay-Setting Rules.”
The IG audited a sample of the pay records of nearly 5,000 IRS management-level employees who received pay increases of more than 10 percent over a ten-year period.