Most Expensive
The Anaheim meeting was the most expensive IRS conference held between fiscal 2010 and 2012, according to the inspector general’s report.
The IRS “specifically requested numerous upgraded rooms and other concessions” from the Anaheim hotels, the report said. The costs could have been reduced if the tax agency had instead negotiated for a lower room rate, it said.
The report said the agency paid about $34,000 to house local employees at hotels during the conference and paid for two top officials to stay in presidential suites that typically cost between $1,499 and $3,500 a night.
The Anaheim gathering, for workers overseeing small businesses and self-employed taxpayers, featured an IRS-produced video parody of Star Trek.
The IRS constructed a mock set at its television studio in New Carrollton, Maryland, at a cost of $2,400 to make the Star Trek video, the report said. Executives featured in the video bought their costumes with personal funds, it said.