As taxpayers, the IRS owes us at least a minimum standard of care when it comes to protecting the personal data that we must give them on our tax returns. At the very least, they should ensure that our data doesn’t fall into unauthorized hands and of course, they need to keep track of where they put it.

Unfortunately, the IRS is failing miserably on both counts. There have been multiple leaks of confidential taxpayer data, and now an Inspector General’s report reveals that the IRS has simply lost over a million tax returns. This is completely unacceptable, and there’s only one way to fix the problem. Taxpayers must insist on a tax system that doesn’t rely on the government collecting our personal data. We must insist that the income tax system be replaced with the FAIRtax.