Two missing laptop computers provided by the IRS to an AARP Foundation tax program in metro Atlanta contained no tax returns or taxpayer data, a foundation spokesman said.
The computers were reported missing to Monroe police this month by a Walton County man who works with the Tax-Aide program, according to an incident report.
AARP volunteer Lee Greek filed the report, police said. He said he mailed three boxes that each contained three laptops to the IRS on April 16, the day after the federal tax-filing deadline. On June 2, he was notified by the IRS that they received just seven of the computers.
The computers were mailed from a UPS store in Monroe, police said.
In a statement, AARP spokeswoman Charlotte Castillo said, “AARP Foundation confirms that actual tax returns are not loaded onto the computers used for tax returns. In order to protect taxpayer data, Tax-Aide used only the Tax Wise Online Software. When using the online software, no taxpayer data or information is stored on the computer.
“In addition, the computers come with software that is used to wipe the hard drive at the end of the tax season. It is protocol to use this software to wipe the hard drive before the computers are shipped back to the IRS Depot. The local volunteer confirms this was done prior to the shipment of these computers.”
Monroe police turned over the serial numbers of the missing laptops to the Georgia Crime Information Center, a network maintained by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The GCIC is widely used by criminal justice agencies.
The Tax-Aide program offers free tax-preparation help to anyone, especially people 50 and older who can’t afford a tax preparation service, Castillo said. The program, which uses nearly 35,000 volunteer workers, serves about 2.7 million people each year nationally.
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