Tax Court Can Reduce Growing Case Backlog and Expenses Through Administrative Improvements

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the operations of the U.S. Tax Court to identify areas that need improvement.

GAO found that the Court could make improvements in the scheduling and management of cases. As a result of the increase in petitions filed with the Court, the case backlog doubled between 1980 and 1982. To reduce the backlog and prevent old cases from accumulating, the Court needs to take more action so that available trial time is used more. The Court also needs to develop techniques for monitoring the progress being made in closing the cases that have been reported as settled. Because cases are not closed when scheduled, they are placed back into the trial setting process, consuming time and personnel resources and delaying other cases from being heard. GAO found that more efficient alternatives could be tried to reduce the expense of leasing courtrooms in cities where trials are held infrequently. GAO also found a need to improve the Court's accounting procedures and travel allowance guidelines. In addition, GAO found that the Court has not taken advantage of automated equipment to assist in document processing and developing management information. The Court needs to test alternatives to its current system of basing all of its judges in Washington, D.C., and sending them to other cities to conduct trial sessions. Finally, GAO found that, after the Court holds a trial, it takes it an average of more than 14 months to issue its opinion.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Johnny C. Finch Team: General Accounting Office: General Government Division Phone: (202) 512-7824