Individual Master File

The IMF stores an individual's name, taxpayer identification number, address, income, deductions, credits, payments received, refunds issued and taxes dismissed.{{cite web|title = IRS privacy disclosure |url=https://www.irs.gov/privacy-disclosure/information-returns-master-file-processing|website=IRS privacy disclosure|access-date=10 May 2018}}

The IMF stores over 100 million Americans individual taxpayers' data.{{cite web |last1=Boyd |first1=Arron |date=April 19, 2018 |title=IRS' 60-Year-Old IT System Failed on Tax Day Due to New Hardware |url=https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2018/04/irs-60-year-old-it-system-failed-tax-day-due-new-hardware/147598/ |website=Netgov |access-date=10 May 2018 |archive-date=May 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505221830/https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2018/04/irs-60-year-old-it-system-failed-tax-day-due-new-hardware/147598/ |url-status=live }}

The IMF application is a system consisting of a series of batch runs, data records and files. The IMF system receives individual tax submissions in electronic format and processes them through a pre-posting phase. It then posts and analyzes the transactions which produces output in the form of Refund Data, Notice Data, Reports and information feeds to other entities and departments.

The IMF system began operation in the 1960s and is still used today,{{cite web |url=https://fcw.com/digital-government/2016/04/the-taxmans-tech-troubles/220659/ |date=April 8, 2016 |title=The taxman's tech troubles |website=TheBusiness of Federal Technology |access-date=January 19, 2023 |archive-date=October 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005080747/https://fcw.com/digital-government/2016/04/the-taxmans-tech-troubles/220659/ |url-status=live }} and is considered well overdue for modernization.{{cite news|last1=Mihm|first1=Stephen|title=The IRS Really Needs Some New Computers|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-04-17/the-irs-computer-system-is-the-oldest-in-the-government|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|date=17 April 2018|publisher=Bloomberg|access-date=10 May 2018|archive-date=April 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424113805/https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-04-17/the-irs-computer-system-is-the-oldest-in-the-government|url-status=live}} Portions of the system are programmed in COBOL and others directly in assembly language. In a 2018 report to Congress, the Government Accountability Office identified the IMF and other IT systems at the IRS as "facing significant risks due to their reliance on legacy programming languages, outdated hardware, and a shortage of human resources with critical skills".{{cite report|author=United States Government Accountability Office|author-link=United States Government Accountability Office|date=28 June 2018|title=IRS Needs to Take Additional Actions to Address Significant Risks to Tax Processing|url=https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-298|id=GAO-18-298|access-date=April 19, 2020|archive-date=August 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801222643/https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-298|url-status=live}}

The IMF and other legacy systems have been named as obstacles that prevent the IRS from acting quickly in exigent circumstances. In the weeks following the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the IRS attempted to rapidly disburse tens of millions of one-time economic stimulus payments, requiring code changes to the IMF and the creation of an associated online interface for taxpayers to view and update their payment information. However, the effort was only partially successful as many taxpayers received the wrong payment amount or were unable to view their payment status.{{cite news|last1=Long|first1=Heather|last2=Stein|first2=Jeff|last3=Rein|first3=Lisa|last4=Romm|first4=Tony|title=Stimulus checks and other coronavirus relief hindered by dated technology and rocky government rollout|newspaper=Washington Post|date=17 April 2020|access-date=19 April 2020|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/17/stimulus-unemployment-checks-delays-government-delays/|archive-date=April 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419020040/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/17/stimulus-unemployment-checks-delays-government-delays/|url-status=live}}

There have also been multiple hardware failures at key times,{{cite web|last1=Charette|first1=Robert|title=IRS Warned Congress of "Catastrophic System Failure" Six Months Before Tax Day Outage|url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/irs-predicted-tax-filing-failure|website=spectrum.ieee|date=30 April 2018|publisher=ieee|access-date=10 May 2018|archive-date=May 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503005023/https://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/computing/it/irs-predicted-tax-filing-failure|url-status=live}} including one which occurred on 17 April 2018 during the end of tax season.

The Customer Account Data Engine (CADE) is intended to replace the IMF system in day-to-day use. Work on the original CADE was begun in 2000 and stopped in 2009. The original CADE is in active use; for instance, in 2009, it was used to process over 40 million tax returns.{{Cite web |date=15 September 2009 |title=TIGTA Releases Audit Report on the IRS's Latest CADE Release |url=https://www.tigta.gov/articles/press-releases/tigta-releases-audit-report-irss-latest-cade-release |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration |language=en}}

In 2009, work began on CADE 2, with an initial planned implementation date of 2014 for major functionality.{{Cite web |last=U. S. Government Accountability Office |date=19 October 2021 |title=Information Technology: Cost and Schedule Performance of Selected IRS Investments |url=https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-104387.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127202152/https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-104387.pdf |archive-date=2022-01-27 |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=www.gao.gov |language=en}} However, CADE 2's major functionality is not expected to be used until 2023 (as of 2021){{needs update|date=January 2025}} and the full system is not expected to be implemented until 2030.{{Cite web |last=Watchblog |date=4 November 2021 |title=IRS's Efforts to Modernize 60-year-old Tax Processing System Is Almost a Decade Away |url=https://www.gao.gov/blog/irss-efforts-modernize-60-year-old-tax-processing-system-almost-decade-away |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221218231357/https://www.gao.gov/blog/irss-efforts-modernize-60-year-old-tax-processing-system-almost-decade-away |archive-date=2022-12-18 |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=www.gao.gov |publisher=Government Accountability Office |language=en}}

• Death Master File, a database maintained by the US Social Security Administration

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Category:Internal Revenue Service

Category:Legacy systems

Category:Government databases in the United States