IRS criminal investigations increase

[July 18, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The IRS Criminal Investigation Division completed more than 4,200 investigations in the 2007 budget year, with about one half resulting in conviction for a crime, according to a report issued Thursday.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said the criminal division showed improvement in a number of key areas last year despite a decline in special agents. Those included cases initiated, completed, recommended for prosecution and those concluding in convictions.

The report also noted that investigations referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution stood at an eight-year high, and that for the first time since they began keeping statistics, the division had more investigations awaiting prosecution than open criminal investigations within the division. It said time needed to manage cases being prosecuted cuts into resources available to initiate and complete investigations.

On average, it took 412 days to complete an investigation in 2007.

It said the number of field special agents had declined 3 percent in 2007 to 2,435. "We believe that the continual loss of agents will negatively affect the division's productivity in the near future," said Inspector General J. Russell George.

He also reported that refund returns verified as containing false wage information under the IRS's Questionable Refund Program increased from 84,000 in the 2005 processing year to 211,000 in 2007. The average fraudulent claim in 2007 was $6,479, compared to $3,764 the previous year.

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On the Net:

Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration: http://www.tigta.gov/

[Associated Press; By JAYMES SONG]

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