Elon Musk: IRS relies on old computers, ‘can’t pass basic audits’

Elon Musk, the unofficial head of US President-elect Donald Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” recently announced his preferred title in the impending administration: volunteer IT consultant. 

The billionaire technology mogul’s comments came as part of a scathing admonition posted on X.com, which Musk owns, concerning the perceived state of the US government’s computer systems. 

Musk criticized the US government’s computer systems. Source: Elon Musk

According to Musk, the federal government’s computers and software “are in such bad shape that they often cannot verify that payments are not fraud, waste or abuse.” 

Government efficiency

Musk discussed the problems in replies to questions and comments on his original post.

He explained that the US government “is actually massively overpaying for software that doesn’t work” and that while “some of it is intentional,” most of the outdated equipment and software has persisted as “a natural consequence of a vast bureaucracy with no accountability for results.” He added, “If it were mostly intentional, it would be easy to reverse.”

Perhaps most noteworthy was Musk’s assertion that the Internal Revenue Service was using equipment that was purportedly decades out of date:

Musk responds to an image showing computers from the late 1990s. Source: Elon Musk

In response to a user who posted an image of what appears to be computers from the early-to-mid 1990s alongside a monitor displaying the Windows 98 startup screen and jokingly claimed they were the computers used by the IRS, Musk wrote “I wish. Unfortunately, it’s much worse than that.”

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While it’s unclear whether Musk meant the admission in jest, it’s indicative of the overall tone of his statements in that it implies the US — one of the richest governments in the world — has failed to keep critical infrastructure properly maintained and updated. 

However, based on Musk’s commentary, it doesn’t appear as though his assessment is necessarily politically motivated. Musk avoided placing any blame in his posts and instead signaled that the issue was more one of bureaucratic entrenchment than intentional mismanagement. 

As such, it seems likely that Musk could pursue an apolitical solution to accelerate government accountability and ensure technological advancement — and blockchain could fit the bill perfectly.

Related: What is blockchain technology? How does it work?

The incoming Trump administration has already professed its intent to make the US the de facto global leader in both cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. And, as numerous experts have pointed out, the most basic use case for blockchain is as an immutable ledger. 

If implemented at the federal level, a core IT stack built on blockchain could ensure the existence of a permanent record of every transaction conducted by the federal government. This would make it possible to perform mass audits while providing the potential for absolute transparency when it comes to tax allocation and spending. 

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