Administration's Fiscal Year 1990 Budget Proposals for IRS and the Tax Court

GAO discussed the Administration's fiscal year (FY) 1990 budget requests for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). GAO found that: (1) the Administration requested about $5.5 billion, an increase of about $289 million over the previous year; (2) the budget request would be insufficient for IRS to adequately carry out its FY 1990 activities, including mandated salary increases, insurance premiums, and retirement benefits; and (3) IRS estimated that it needed $150 million to fill about 1,800 additional positions to implement certain mandated actions. GAO also found that the Tax Court: (1) requested $28.1 million for FY 1990, including costs for new air conditioning equipment; (2) expects to absorb costs associated with inflation; (3) made significant progress to reduce its case inventory, and expected a decrease in the number of petitions filed in FY 1989; and (4) could experience increased case loads due to certain statutory provisions, including expansion of its jurisdictional authority.