A recent report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) found that the IRS received about $3.2 billion in unidentified payments between 2022 and 2024. This points to ongoing problems with incomplete or missing taxpayer information.  

Accounting Today reports that the IRS was able to apply around $2.3 billion, or 70%, of these payments to taxpayer accounts. Another $741 million was closed after being transferred or removed because the payments were voided or dishonored. About $218 million is still unresolved and waiting to be addressed.  

The report looked at how the IRS handles payments that lack key details, like names, identification numbers, tax periods, or form types. TIGTA found that the agency still uses manual tracking and separate systems at different Tax Processing Centers.  

The report also found differences in staffing and how cases are managed. For instance, the Ogden, Utah, center handled 40% of the unidentified payment inventory, even though it had about the same number of staff as the Kansas City facility, which managed only 11%. 

TIGTA suggested that the IRS use an electronic case management system to better track unidentified payments and “hardcore payment tracers,” which are cases started when taxpayers report missing payments. The IRS agreed and has put temporary tracking steps in place while it works on updating the program.