The inspector general already released one report on Tuesday following IRS admissions that it had inappropriately targeted conservative groups. That report sought to determine how the IRS had targeted those groups, and if it had delayed processing of applications or requested unnecessary information from them.
The audit found that IRS employees who scrutinized groups with “tea party” or “patriots” in their names had temporarily stopped doing so after their actions were discovered by higher ups, but later reverted to the same practice. It also found that the IRS held some applications for tax-exempt status for three years.
A second report would be much broader in scope, examining how the IRS office on tax-exempt organizations does its job. A TIGTA spokesperson confirmed that a future audit was being considered but didn’t have any additional information to provide.
Dustin Stockton of the tea party 501(c)(4) group Teaparty.net says that if the audit “[leads] to a serious reform that’s great.”
“But at this point it’s hard to have confidence in anything that’s happening within or related to the IRS,” he says.
President Obama accepted the resignation of acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller on Wednesday and called the behavior at the IRS revealed by the inspector general’s report “inexcusable.”
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