Government Technology Leadership Awards Breaking Down Barriers
Internal Revenue Service,
Health and Human Services Department,
Social Security Administration
t was a policy that Democrats and Republicans alike could love. But by 1997, it was clear that the earned income tax credit-which eases the tax burden of the working poor-simply wasn't working. Applicants had filed $8.4 billion in fraudulent or ineligible claims.
Enter a team of 15 IRS computer gurus. They set out to create an automated way to assess the eligibility of tax credit applicants. First, they electronically captured data from the Health and Human Services Department and the Social Security Administration that showed whether applicants were supporting children, a key eligibility factor for the credit. Then they pooled that information into a database of records on dependents, used by front-line inspectors to weed out fraudulent applicants before they receive tax refunds.
"We're catching those errors up front instead of giving out bad refunds," says Larry Grimes, assistant director for corporate data in IRS' systems management division.
The result? In 2002, the IRS denied $550 million in false tax credit claims.
-Jason Peckenpaugh
WHY IT WON
WHY IT'S INNOVATIVE
Pooled data that three agencies already had gathered to screen tax credit applicants.
WHAT IT CHANGED
Fraud and errors in the tax credit program dropped dramatically.