The IRS spent over 4 million taxpayer dollars on a conference in 2010, CNN reported Tuesday evening. The actual amount wasted is unknown because the IRS was not required to keep its receipts, something that they require taxpayers to do.
CNN correspondent Dana Bash discussed the excesses of the agency in a report on 360, including gifts, video spoofs and upscale hotel rooms for agency higher-ups, but the cost of those and the conference itself was unclear because the IRS had engaged in poor record-keeping:
ANDERSON 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?
DANA BASH: That is for real, Anderson. It really is 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.