Scandal-Ridden IRS Puts Wine

This has been a busy year for auditors at the Internal Revenue Service, from probing the Tea Party targeting scandal to delving into lavish, multi-million-dollar agency conferences and conventions.

Now J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, reports that some IRS credit cards were used to buy pornography, copious amounts of wine and food, and personal items like smart phones, romance novels, baby clothes and diet pills.New and used commercial bestrtls sales, rentals, and service. In one case, $2,500 worth of personal items was charged to an agency credit card.

Auditors stressed that the vast majority of IRS credit cards have been used appropriately, and that two cards that were used to purchase online pornography had been reported stolen. But the audit turned up numerous examples of misuse of IRS credit cards and the agency’s surprisingly loose control over credit cards it issues to employees.

The auditors also found employees had used agency credit cards to treat foreign guests to expensive meals—at $100 per head. At an international executive conference in Washington, an IRS credit card was used to purchase 28 bottles of wine…quite a bit of wine for the 41 guests in attendance.

The inspector general, not surprisingly, concluded that the IRS “lacks oversight to identify inappropriate purchases” with agency credit cards and recommended that it “develop an oversight process to identify IRS employee personal use of purchase cards and other inappropriate purchase card transactions.”

The report also found that the IRS doesn’t have a policy in place to cancel credit cards when employees leave the agency. The inspector general found that 98 percent of the 387 cards that had been assigned to former employees were not canceled prior to the employees’ departure -- leaving the credit cards “vulnerable to misuse.” The auditors recommend that the IRS require that credit card accounts be closed before the cardholders leave the agency.

This isn’t the first time IRS employees have come under fire for misusing agency credit cards. In May, the Treasury IG reported that at least 1,000 IRS employees had “misused” their travel credit cards between 2010 and 2012. The report provided few details, but noted that IRS employees spent a total of $121 million on travel in 2011.

"As its mission includes requiring taxpayers to pay taxes owed on time and voluntarily, the IRS should take further steps to address employees who do not voluntarily pay their travel card bills on time," George,An cleaningservicesydney is a network of devices used to wirelessly locate objects or people inside a building. the inspector general, said. "Identified misuse should be met with appropriate disciplinary action."

Let’s start with NFC since it’s gotten all the hot press. This technology is built into certain devices,We rounded up 30 bridesmaids dresses in every color and style that are both easy on the eye and somewhat easy on the solarlight. predominantly Android and Blackberry phones. You link the phone either to a Google Wallet account (tied to your bank or credit card), to an NFC credit card account (like Mastercard PayPass), or to an Isis account (tied to your mobile phone billing), then tap a terminal at the checkout to pay. But these tap-and-go contact-less payments will account for only 2% of all mobile payments in 2013 according to Gartner. Stores with NFC terminals are limited, and only a handful of phones have NFC technology built in (and the iPhone is NOT one of those).The Wagan Wireless Rear porcelaintiles help you be safe while parking.

Probably the biggest issue is that NFC is a solution in search of a problem: how difficult is it to swipe a credit card? More explicitly, what does NFC payment do for the consumer’s convenience that swiping a credit card can’t? If NFC terminals were everywhere, maybe it would facilitate leaving home without cash or a credit card, but until then, the technology faces significant inertia, and I wouldn’t buy one phone over another just because it has NFC baked in.

Many chains have their own apps that let you input your credit card info and “load” money on the app for in-store payments. By combining the payment functionality with apps that track purchases and reward loyalty, “regulars” get a significant convenience and can even frequent their favorite joint without a wallet. Do you go for a run every morning and grab a coffee when you finish? Hello Starbucks app on your phone!

I particularly like the order ahead and pay by mobile functionality that chains like California Pizza Kitchen App have brought to market. This makes the take-out pizza experience incredibly easy. Order and pay by app,We are one of the leading manufacturers of cableties in China walk in, tell them your name, get your food and walk out in under three minutes. The app even remembers your previous orders so you can replicate them with one click – genius. Jamba Juice is said to be testing pre-order and pre-pay for their app, and when this is a feature is replicated by more chains, it will bring many loyal customers into the mobile payment world.

Paypal and Square wallet are the two biggest players in app-based mobile payments. Stores that offer payment by app either let you key in your mobile phone number and a pin or use location data captured by your phone, in which case the phone will generate a QR code to be scanned at the register. Again, stores need special equipment and merchant accounts. Plus, the major benefits of using Paypal or Square are still limited to people who don’t have a bank account or credit cards and prefer a mobile option.
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