OIG Audits of All Treasury Bureaus

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of the Treasury Office of Inspector General's (OIG) audits of all Treasury bureaus, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), for fiscal years 1995 through 1997.

GAO noted that: (1) OIG has issued 392 reports during the 3-year period, reflecting analyses of various bureau activities, of which 5 relate to IRS programs and 82 relate to IRS procurement actions; (2) among the total OIG reports issued, five of the multiple bureau reports include analyses of IRS programs; (3) the reports reflect four different kinds of audit services: program and financial audits, consultations, contract audits, and evaluations; (4) the OIG's Office of Audit does the program and financial audits, which it states are performed in accordance with government auditing standards and generally contain findings, conclusions, and recommendations; (5) the Office of Audit also does consultations, which in effect provide Treasury officials with management consulting services; (6) additionally, the Office of Audit arranges with the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) for audits of specific bureau procurement actions, which are to assist bureaus to help ensure that contract costs are prudent and in compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations; (7) Office of Audit officials also perform quality reviews of the DCAA audits and work with DCAA and Treasury officials to resolve significant audit issues; (8) the five audit reports specific to IRS programs or activities are wide ranging; (9) they cover extensive IRS programs, such as Treasury's oversight of the Tax Systems Modernization Program, important procurements, such as Treasury's Digital Telecommunications System, which IRS administers, and individual hotline complaints or allegations about IRS' use of funds; (10) the five multiple bureau audit reports that include IRS coverage are also wide ranging; (11) for example, they include audits of Treasury's small business program as well as various financial controls required by the Chief Financial Officers Act; and (12) these multiple bureau audit reports have analyses of related IRS programs or controls.