Jimmy Patronis Wants Answers From IRS About Compromised Information

This week, state Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding recent reports that the agency exposed confidential information of more than 120,000 taxpayers online.

The data shared reportedly came from Form 990-T, a business tax return document used by tax-exempt entities, including individual retirement accounts, to report and pay income tax on income generated from certain investments or income unrelated to their exempt purpose.

The letter is below.

Dear Commissioner Rettig,

With recent reports that over 120,000 taxpayers had certain tax forms published online by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), I am concerned about the impact this may have on Florida taxpayers. As the State’s Chief Financial Officer, I am charged with protecting Florida taxpayers from fraud, waste, and abuse, and your actions have no doubt made certain Florida taxpayers vulnerable to identify theft. As such, I am formally requesting the IRS report back the following information in the most expeditious manner possible:

1. How many Florida taxpayers were affected?
2. Have you contacted each and every individual and organization about their compromised information?
3. How long had personal information been exposed before the IRS took action?
4. Were you aware of this “inadvertent disclosure” as Congress was debating the Inflation Reduction Act?
5. What steps is the IRS taking to safeguard Floridians who were made vulnerable by your action (i.e., will you be providing credit monitoring services cost-free to Floridians)?

As the IRS is about to grow by 87,000 new personnel, funded in part by an $80 billion appropriation through the Inflation Reduction Act, compromising taxpayer information is unacceptable. The unchecked growth of the IRS means you will be processing even more personal information, and with compromised information like this, I am concerned that this is a sign of more of incompetence to come. With tax receipts up 24 percent within the first 10 months of the fiscal year, Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue one. The IRS must take aggressive action in cleaning up this mess. As such, I will be forwarding this communication to Florida’s congressional delegation to ensure proper actions are taken.