Dear Commissioner Rossotti:
This letter concerns press reports regarding the disappearance of at least 1,800 taxpayer payments to a Pittsburgh lockbox operated by the Mellon Bank. I am concerned that this problem may be considerably larger then the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has publicly acknowledged and could extend beyond missing tax payments to an untold number of tax returns and extension requests. Accordingly, I am requesting that you provide the Committee on Finance with a detailed report on the problems involving the Pittsburgh lockbox and the IRS's actions to resolve this problem.
Specifically, your report should describe the nature and scope of the problem; the cause(s)of the problem; the parties responsible for creating the problem; what happened to the missing documents; the number and location of taxpayers affected; the number of tax payments (including dollar amounts), returns and other documents missing; when and how the problem was discovered; the actions taken by IRS to notify and assist taxpayers affected; the extent to which individuals can use this incident for inappropriate purposes; the actions taken by the IRS to address issues raised by this problem; whether the problem is occurring at other locations; and what actions are being taken by IRS to prevent future occurrences.
I am requesting that your report be provided to the Committee by Aug. 30, 2001.Thank you in advance for your prompt attention to our request. If you have any questions concerning this matter, please contact Patrick Heck at 224-4515.
Sincerely,
Max Baucus Chairman
Source: Ranking Member’s News
