Doge is planning a hackathon at the IRS. It hopes to make it easier to access taxpayer data
The “Mega API” has the potential to allow people with the right to export all IRS data to their system of choice, including private entities. If the person also has access to other interoperable data sets in a separate government agency, it can be compared with the IRS data.
“It will take years to show off the data and understand it,” IRS source told WIRD. “Even if the data is considered, it will take a long time, because these people are not only without government, but have no experience in the IRS, taxes or anything else.” (“There are a lot of things I don’t know about what I’m learning right now,” Corcos told Ingraham in a Fox interview. “I know a lot about software systems, and that’s why I’m brought in.”)
These systems all go through a tedious approval process to ensure the security of taxpayer data. Sources told Wired that what might replace them may still require proper scrutiny.
IRS workers claim “This is basically the open door of all the most sensitive information in the United States controlled by Musk, and there are no rules that usually ensure that data.”
The data merger work is consistent with President Donald Trump’s executive order on March 20, which directs agencies to eliminate information silos. The order is allegedly intended to combat fraud and waste, but it could also threaten privacy by combining personal data on different systems into a central repository.
In a statement provided to WIRED on Saturday, a Treasury spokesperson said the department “is pleased to have gathered a team of long-time IRS engineers who have been identified as the most talented technical personnel. Through this coalition, they will streamline IRS systems to create the most efficient service for the American taxpayer. This week the team will be participating in the IRS Roadmapping Kickoff, a seminar of various Strategy sessions, as they work diligently to create efficient system. This new leadership and guidance will maximize its capabilities and become the technology multiplier IRS needs for decades.”
Palantir, Sam Corcos and Gavin Kliger did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to the Washington Post, in February, the memorandum was drafted to allow Klicker to obtain personal taxpayer data at the IRS. Ultimately, Kliger reads only anonymous tax data, similar to the tax data used by scholars in their research. Cocos arrived a few weeks later, asking for detailed taxpayer and supplier information as a means to combat fraud, The Post reported.
“The IRS has some pretty legacy infrastructure. It’s actually very similar to what banks use. It’s an old mainframe running COBOL and CASSBLY, and the challenge is, how do we move it to a modern system?” Corcos told Ingraham in the same Fox news interview. Cocos said he plans to continue working for the IRS for six months.
Doge has cut and burned down modernization projects at other agencies, replacing them with smaller teams and closer timelines. Wired reported last week that in the Social Security Bureau, Doge representatives plan to move all the agent’s data out of old languages such as COBOL and transfer it to something like Java.
