A Treasury Inspector General audit of the Internal Revenue Service found security gaps at federal facilities, including instances of employees accessing IRS sites after beginning administrative leave.
The audit determined that 2 percent of employees on administrative leave—431 of 22,227—accessed IRS facilities after their leave start dates. These employees had been placed on leave after accepting deferred resignation offers and had no apparent business reason to access the sites, the inspector general said.
The audit also found that the IRS has not fully implemented a 2023 recommendation to ensure all noncompliant card readers were replaced and properly configured. The agency said implementation has been delayed until October 2026 due to budget restrictions and staffing losses.
Physical access controls at federal facilities are designed to prevent unauthorized entry, which could lead to theft of taxpayer information, compromise of IRS systems and networks, or physical harm to personnel, the inspector general noted.