--from page 4 of the report of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration: “Procedures Are Needed to Improve the Accounting and Monitoring of Restitution Payments to Prevent Erroneous Refunds” (January 27, 2012), Reference Number 2012-30-012.[ . . . ] the IRS does not have effective internal controls to ensure defendants convicted of tax-related crimes are held responsible for paying taxes and adhering to conditions of probation and restitution associated with the offenses they commit. The absence of effective internal controls impaired the IRS’s ability to ensure there were adequate accounting procedures and safeguards to prevent the issuance of erroneous refunds to defendants. In addition, weaknesses in internal controls hindered the IRS’s efforts to monitor conditions of probation and restitution, and CI’s use of the refund offset procedure to collect restitution payments is inconsistent. Finally, the IRS was not always granted restitution by the courts in cases where it appeared to be warranted.
EDIT: Here's a link to the report:
http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditrepo ... 0012fr.pdf