April 22,2005

Baucus Comments on IRS’s Employee Tuition Program

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) U.S. Senator Max Baucus raised concerns with an Internal RevenueService (IRS) program that provides tuition funds to employees to promote career developmentand improve employee skills. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)recently completed a study of the IRS’s employee tuition program, the Human ResourceInvestment Fund (HRIF), which found poor program oversight and inefficient use of funds. Inresponse to the audit of HRIF, Senator Baucus released the following statement:

“It’s ironic and disappointing that the IRS’s report card shows its tuition programflunked. In a program intended for employee development, administrative costs exceeded tuitionpaid by almost 2-1. And, the IRS didn’t follow up on those receiving the tuition assistance anddoesn’t know how many employees actually took the courses they said they were going to take.The IRS needs to fix this problem immediately. As Congress considers the IRS budget for theupcoming year, we must be confident that the IRS is using its money responsibly. Failing gradesinvolving the use of taxpayers’ money are not acceptable.”

Full text of TIGTA’s report entitled “The Human Resources Investment Fund Is Not a Cost-Effective Method of Providing Tuition Assistance: Reference Number 2005-10-070” can befound at www.tigta.gov.