IRS can’t find $4M in conference receipts: Report

The Internal Revenue Service can’t find the receipts from a $4 million agency conference in 2010 — meaning, it can’t provide the same documentation for business-related travel it requires Americans to include on tax filings.

CNN reported the snafu Tuesday evening. Correspondent Dana Bash told host Anderson Cooper that it’s impossible to determine exactly how much was spent on what. Some of the expenditures that are still unclear, The Washington Free Beacon reported: Gifts, production of video spoofs and the charge for hotel rooms, some of which are considered upscale.

The CNN exchange started with Mr. Cooper: “I’ve got to go back to something you said. The IRS facing this audit actually said they couldn’t find some of their own receipts. Is that for real?

And Ms. Bash’s reply, the Free Beacon reported: “That is for real, Anderson. It is really hard to believe, but the IG report explicitly says, ’IRS management could not provide any documentation detailing how this money was spent.’ At the time, three years ago, this is also hard to believe, keeping track of and reporting costs of conferences wasn’t required at the IRS. Shoddy record-keeping wasn’t limited to just these videos. The IG couldn’t even verify the overall cost of the conference.”