Hacker News Reader

What do I get for sending in a malformed e-file that breaks the mainframe? There's some REALLY old code in the IRS processing systems and it would surprise me if any of it stood up to modern security designs. Also, you don't want to reveal how you determine who to audit.

View on HN

> who to audit.

Doesn't have to be complicated, pull 10% of the "simple" forms, 90% of complicated.

Simple forms would be the 1040EZ, 1040s w/ std deductions & no other "business" forms.

I highly doubt that the real code is random in that way. I'm sure there's some random aspect, but not all. If you're committing tax fraud, it's very valuable to know how to avoid tripping up the "audit this account" triggers.

This is assuming "who to audit" is even a software process or completely a software process, but fine, don't open source that if necessary. I really just want the IRS software that I personally use to be open source.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com