Tax Administration

Compliance and Other Issues Associated With Occupational Excise Taxes Gao ID: GGD-86-49 June 5, 1986

GAO reviewed the effectiveness of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in imposing occupational excise taxes on businesses and individuals in the alcohol, wagering, and firearms industries.

GAO found that: (1) BATF initiated a special tax collection program to increase compliance and tax collections from retail alcohol establishments; (2) BATF drafted a bill that would restrict wholesalers' sales of alcohol to those retailers that have paid their occupational taxes; (3) IRS could use information from states that license wagering establishments to assess compliance by businesses with the occupational tax and to determine compliance with filing requirements; (4) an information reporting requirement exists that would identify individuals liable for the occupational tax; and (5) a reevaluation of the provision allowing tax-free weapon transfers between occupational taxpayers may be needed.

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.

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