WASHINGTON - Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) issued the following statement on the report issued today by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA):
“The report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration highlights total mismanagement at the IRS in handling tax exemption applications and shows that the agency's employees were very wrong in using inappropriate criteria to single out organizations for review by name or political views rather than the actual activities of organizations. Deeply troubling was the disturbing lack of management oversight of the screening process, and the terribly incompetent review process that allowed some applications to sit for years while granting approvals to others that had indications of significant political activities.
“The inconsistencies in information and the failure by the IRS to provide Congress, in its oversight role, full information during this process is completely unacceptable. Leadership and key staff at the IRS had an obligation to provide updated information to Congress and they failed to do so.
“The IG report states that no one outside of the IRS influenced the development of the inappropriate criteria used to screen applications. As indicated in the President's and Secretary Lew's statements the TIGTA report's recommendations must be immediately implemented and those responsible for this malfeasance must be held fully accountable."
