IRS Budget 2012
Extending Systematic Reviews of Spending Could Identify More Savings Over Time Gao ID: GAO-11-547 April 11, 2011The financing of the federal government depends largely on the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) efforts to collect taxes. These efforts focus on providing taxpayer services, such as electronic filing and telephone assistance, to make voluntary compliance easier and enforcing tax laws to ensure everyone meets their obligations to pay taxes. To fund IRS's 2012 operations, the President requested $13.3 billion spread over five appropriations, including $6 billion for enforcement, $4.6 billion for operations support, and $2.3 billion for taxpayer services. Because of the size of IRS's budget and the importance of its service and compliance programs for all taxpayers, Congress asked us to review the fiscal year 2012 budget justification for IRS. Special areas of interest included any new tax law enforcement and taxpayer service initiatives, the cost of implementing IRS's responsibilities under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), and any opportunities for savings. Based on your request our objectives were to: (1) describe IRS's budget and staffing trends for fiscal years 2008 through 2012; (2) assess IRS's process for identifying potential savings and how it used savings that were greater than projected; (3) describe new enforcement, taxpayer service and other initiatives in the fiscal year 2012 budget justification, including any estimates of return on investment (ROI); (4) assess any legislative proposals in the budget justification and how IRS reports their costs; (5) assess how the budget justification reports on the costs and performance of major information technology (IT) systems; (6) describe how 2012 PPACA costs are presented in the budget justification; and (7) document IRS's implementation of our budget recommendations from prior years' reports as well as highlight our open matters for Congress and recommendations to IRS with potential savings or revenues.
(1) The IRS fiscal year 2012 budget request is a 9.4 percent, or $1.14 billion, increase over fiscal year 2010 with most of the increases for the Enforcement and Operations Support appropriations. It is a 20 percent increase over 2008. The budget justification proposes a 6 percent increase in full time equivalent staff since 2010 and an 11 percent increase since 2008. (2) IRS projects $190 million in savings and efficiencies for fiscal year 2012, which includes a $75 million reduction in IT infrastructure spending. The IT savings resulted from a systematic review of IT systems and contracts and the use of leading practices in systems development. Although IRS looks for savings throughout the agency, these efforts are not as systematic as the IT review. IRS budget officials cited costs as the reason. IRS IT officials told us approximately five full time staff were dedicated to finding the IT savings. In addition to projecting savings for 2012, the budget justification for IRS reported on the amount of savings realized in 2010. According to IRS, realized savings in 2010 were about $5 million greater than originally projected but the budget justification did not specify how the additional savings were used. (3) The fiscal year 2012 budget justification includes 17 new enforcement, taxpayer service, and other initiatives with a total cost of approximately $839 million. The justification included ROI estimates for 6 of them, with an average ROI of 6.4 to 1. (4) The budget justification includes 21 legislative proposals which according to IRS, if enacted, could result in over $10 billion in savings or increased revenues over 10 years. IRS was able to report costs for 14 of these proposals, but the costs were aggregated. Cost information for each of the 14 proposals is available from IRS and could be more useful to the Congress when weighing the merits of each proposal. (5) IRS is requesting $2.67 billion for IT funding in fiscal year 2012; $2.3 billion of this funding is for Operations Support and the remaining amount is for BSM. Out of these appropriations, IRS funds about 155 IT systems, including 31 major systems. The justification summarizes cost and schedule performance information for BSM, but not other major IT systems. Without such summary information Congress lacks a high level indicator of performance for most of IRS's IT spending. (6) The total justification for PPACA in fiscal year 2012 is $473.4 million, or 42 percent of the fiscal year 2012 requested funding increase. These costs are spread over five program initiatives within the Enforcement, Operations Support, and Taxpayer Services appropriations. While the PPACA costs are easily identified by initiative, the total cost is not shown. The total can be calculated by adding the PPACA costs across the five initiatives. (7) IRS implemented several of our prior recommendations to improve its budget presentation, including comparing projected savings to actual savings. Several of our open matters for Congress or recommendations to IRS have the potential to increase revenue or savings if implemented. To improve the usefulness of the budget request for IRS, we recommend the Commissioner of Internal Revenue take the following four actions: (1) further expand efforts to systematically identify savings and efficiencies as part of its budget development process on a periodic, but not necessarily annual, basis; (2) report in its budget justification how savings beyond projections were used. The amount of explanation provided should correspond to the amount of the savings; (3 provide cost estimates for individual legislative proposals in future budget justifications; and (4) include measures of cost and schedule performance for major IT systems in Operations Support, such as it does for BSM.
RecommendationsOur 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: James R. White Team: Government Accountability Office: Strategic Issues Phone: (202) 512-5594GAO-11-547, IRS Budget 2012: Extending Systematic Reviews of Spending Could Identify More Savings Over Time
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United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
Report to Congressional Committees:
April 2011:
IRS Budget 2012:
Extending Systematic Reviews of Spending Could Identify More Savings
Over Time:
GAO-11-547:
Contents:
Letter:
Background:
Results In Brief:
Conclusions:
Recommendations for Executive Action:
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
Appendix I: Updated Briefing for Senate and House Committees:
Appendix II: List of Open Matters for Congress and Recommendations to
IRS That Could Result in Potential Savings or Increased Revenues:
Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
Table:
Table 1: List of Open Matters for Congress and Recommendations to IRS
That Could Result In Potential Savings or Increased Revenues:
[End of section]
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
April 11, 2011:
The Honorable Richard J. Durbin:
Chairman:
The Honorable Jerry Moran:
Ranking Member:
Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government:
Committee on Appropriations:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Charles W. Boustany, Jr.
Chairman:
The Honorable John Lewis:
Ranking Member:
Subcommittee on Oversight:
Committee on Ways and Means:
House of Representatives:
The financing of the federal government depends largely on the
Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) efforts to collect taxes. These
efforts focus on providing taxpayer services, such as electronic
filing and telephone assistance, to make voluntary compliance easier
and enforcing tax laws to ensure everyone meets their obligations to
pay taxes. To fund IRS's 2012 operations, the President requested
$13.3 billion spread over five appropriations, including $6 billion
for enforcement, $4.6 billion for operations support, and $2.3 billion
for taxpayer services.
Because of the size of IRS's budget and the importance of its service
and compliance programs for all taxpayers, you asked us to review the
fiscal year 2012 budget justification for IRS. Special areas of
interest included any new tax law enforcement and taxpayer service
initiatives, the cost of implementing IRS's responsibilities under the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), and any
opportunities for savings.[Footnote 1] Based on your request our
objectives were to:
1. describe IRS's budget and staffing trends for fiscal years 2008
through 2012;
2. assess IRS's process for identifying potential savings and how it
used savings that were greater than projected;
3. describe new enforcement, taxpayer service and other initiatives in
the fiscal year 2012 budget justification, including any estimates of
return on investment (ROI);
4. assess any legislative proposals in the budget justification and
how IRS reports their costs;
5. assess how the budget justification reports on the costs and
performance of major information technology (IT) systems;
6. describe how 2012 PPACA costs are presented in the budget
justification; and:
7. document IRS's implementation of our budget recommendations from
prior years' reports as well as highlight our open matters for
Congress and recommendations to IRS with potential savings or revenues.
We conducted our work in Washington, D.C. and New Carrollton, Maryland
where key IRS officials involved with the budget and IT systems are
located. Generally, we compared the President's fiscal year 2012
budget justification for IRS to enacted amounts by appropriation from
fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2010, including the fiscal year
2011 budget justification and annualized continuing resolution (CR)
levels. Specifically, to address the first four objectives, we
reviewed the budget and supplemental documents and considered other
sources such as the IRS Strategic Plan 2009-2013, Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) Circular A-11, and GAO's Cost Estimating and
Assessment Guide.[Footnote 2] We also interviewed officials in the
Chief Financial Officer's (CFO) office. For the fifth objective to
assess major IT systems' costs and performance, we reviewed
documentation such as the 2010 Enterprise Transition Plan, and
interviewed officials in IRS's Modernization and Information
Technology Services office. For the sixth objective to describe how
PPACA costs are presented, we reviewed relevant sections of the budget
and supplemental documents, and interviewed budget and program office
officials working on PPACA implementation. Finally, for the seventh
objective we interviewed CFO officials to obtain information on prior
year budget recommendations and judgmentally selected and relied on
prior work in identifying opportunities for potential savings or
increased revenue.[Footnote 3] Based on previous tests of the major
data systems IRS uses to prepare its budget justification, we
determined the data in those systems were sufficiently reliable for
our purposes.
On March 31, 2011 we briefed the Subcommittee on Financial Services
and General Government, Committee on Appropriations, United States
Senate and on April 7, 2011 we briefed the Subcommittee on Oversight,
Committee on Ways and Means, United States House of Representatives on
the results of our work on the fiscal year 2012 budget request for
IRS. This report summarizes and transmits updated materials we used at
these briefings, which are reprinted in appendix I, and includes
related conclusions and recommendations.
We conducted this performance audit from November 2010 through April
2011 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit
to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for
our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Background:
The President's fiscal year 2012 budget request for the IRS is
presented in two key documents: (1) the Congressional Budget
Justification, which provides a detailed justification of proposed IRS
spending, and (2) the Appendix to the President's Budget. In general,
there are three levels to IRS's budget presentation:
* The first level includes five IRS appropriation accounts: Taxpayer
Services, Enforcement, Operations Support, Business Systems
Modernization (BSM), and Health Insurance Tax Credit Administration
(HITCA).
* The second level is IRS's budget activities, which divide the
appropriation accounts into more basic functions. For example, the
Operations Support appropriation has three budget activities:
Infrastructure, Shared Services and Support, and Information Services.
Infrastructure funds items such as rent, building services, and non-IT
equipment. Shared Services and Support includes general policy and
management functions such as human resources and strategic planning,
as well as other functions like printing and postage. Information
Services funds staffing, equipment and related costs to maintain and
operate information systems not specifically designated as part of BSM.
* The third level includes multiple program activities for every
budget activity. For example, in the Infrastructure budget activity,
there are four program activities: Building Delegation, Rent, Space
and Housing/Non-IT Equipment, and Security.
Results In Brief:
* The IRS fiscal year 2012 budget request is a 9.4 percent, or $1.14
billion, increase over fiscal year 2010 with most of the increases for
the Enforcement and Operations Support appropriations. It is a 20
percent increase over 2008. The budget justification proposes a 6
percent increase in full time equivalent staff since 2010 and an 11
percent increase since 2008.
* IRS projects $190 million in savings and efficiencies for fiscal
year 2012, which includes a $75 million reduction in IT infrastructure
spending. The IT savings resulted from a systematic review of IT
systems and contracts and the use of leading practices in systems
development. Although IRS looks for savings throughout the agency,
these efforts are not as systematic as the IT review. IRS budget
officials cited costs as the reason. IRS IT officials told us
approximately five full time staff were dedicated to finding the IT
savings. In addition to projecting savings for 2012, the budget
justification for IRS reported on the amount of savings realized in
2010. According to IRS, realized savings in 2010 were about $5 million
greater than originally projected but the budget justification did not
specify how the additional savings were used.
* The fiscal year 2012 budget justification includes 17 new
enforcement, taxpayer service, and other initiatives with a total cost
of approximately $839 million. The justification included ROI
estimates for 6 of them, with an average ROI of 6.4 to 1.
* The budget justification includes 21 legislative proposals which
according to IRS, if enacted, could result in over $10 billion in
savings or increased revenues over 10 years. IRS was able to report
costs for 14 of these proposals, but the costs were aggregated. Cost
information for each of the 14 proposals is available from IRS and
could be more useful to the Congress when weighing the merits of each
proposal.
* IRS is requesting $2.67 billion for IT funding in fiscal year 2012;
$2.3 billion of this funding is for Operations Support and the
remaining amount is for BSM. Out of these appropriations, IRS funds
about 155 IT systems, including 31 major systems. The justification
summarizes cost and schedule performance information for BSM, but not
other major IT systems. Without such summary information Congress
lacks a high level indicator of performance for most of IRS's IT
spending.
* The total justification for PPACA in fiscal year 2012 is $473.4
million, or 42 percent of the fiscal year 2012 requested funding
increase. These costs are spread over five program initiatives within
the Enforcement, Operations Support, and Taxpayer Services
appropriations. While the PPACA costs are easily identified by
initiative, the total cost is not shown. The total can be calculated
by adding the PPACA costs across the five initiatives.
* IRS implemented several of our prior recommendations to improve its
budget presentation, including comparing projected savings to actual
savings.[Footnote 4] Several of our open matters for Congress or
recommendations to IRS have the potential to increase revenue or
savings if implemented.[Footnote 5] See appendix II for details on
open matters and recommendations.
Conclusions:
IRS has taken important steps to identify savings and efficiencies,
including its systematic approach to identifying IT savings. Extending
this systematic approach agency wide has the potential to identify
additional savings. While some resources would be needed to implement
such an approach, those costs could be reduced by targeting areas with
high potential, i.e., not necessarily examining every area of the
budget every year, and would likely be more than offset by newly
realized savings and efficiencies.
The budget justification provides useful information to congressional
appropriators and others for making decisions about budgetary trade-
offs. We identified three areas where further information in the
budget justification could be beneficial: describing how any savings
in excess of projections are used, providing costs estimates for
individual legislative proposals, and including IT cost and schedule
performance information for major systems in the Operations Support
appropriation.
Recommendations for Executive Action:
To improve the usefulness of the budget request for IRS, we recommend
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue take the following four actions:
* further expand efforts to systematically identify savings and
efficiencies as part of its budget development process on a periodic,
but not necessarily annual, basis;
* report in its budget justification how savings beyond projections
were used. The amount of explanation provided should correspond to the
amount of the savings;
* provide cost estimates for individual legislative proposals in
future budget justifications; and:
* include measures of cost and schedule performance for major IT
systems in Operations Support, such as it does for BSM.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
In commenting on a draft of this report, IRS officials said that, due
to the short time frame for GAO's report, they did not have time to
fully analyze the recommendations and, therefore, were unable to
respond to them at the time. They provided technical comments, and we
made those changes where appropriate.
As agreed with your offices unless you publicly announce the contents
of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 2 days
from the report date. At that time we plan to send copies of this
report to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of other Senate and House
committees and subcommittees that have appropriation, authorization,
and oversight responsibilities for IRS. We are also sending copies to
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the Secretary of the Treasury,
the Chairman of the IRS Oversight Board, and the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget. Copies are also available at no
charge on the GAO Web site at [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov].
If you or your staffs have any questions or wish to discuss the
material in this report further, please contact me at (202) 512-9110 or
WhiteJ@gao.gov. Contact points for our offices of Congressional
Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this
report. GAO staff members who made major contributions to this report
are listed in appendix III.
Signed by:
James R. White:
Director, Tax Issues:
Strategic Issues:
[End of section]
Appendix I: Updated Briefing for Senate and House Committees:
A Review of the Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Justification for the Internal
Revenue Service:
Prepared for the:
Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government,
Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate (March 31, 2011):
and the:
Subcommittee on Oversight, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S.
House of Representatives (April 7, 2011):
Updated April 11, 2011:
Objectives:
Because of the size of IRS's budget and the importance of its service
and compliance programs for all-taxpayers, you asked us to review the
fiscal year 2012 budget justification for IRS. Special areas of
interest included any new tax law enforcement and taxpayer service
initiatives, the cost of implementing IRS's responsibilities under the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), and any
opportunities for savings.[Footnote 6] Based on your request our
objectives were to:
* describe IRS's budget and staffing trends for fiscal years 2008
through 2012;
* assess IRS's process for identifying potential savings and how it
used savings that were greater than projected;
* describe new enforcement, taxpayer service and other initiatives in
the fiscal year 2012 budget justification, including estimates for
return on investment (ROI);
* assess any legislative proposals in the budget justification and how
IRS reports their costs;
* assess how the budget justification reports on the costs and
performance of major information technology (IT) systems;
* describe how 2012 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
(PPACA) costs are presented in the budget justification; and;
* document IRS's implementation of our budget recommendations from
prior years' reports as well as highlight our open matters for
Congress and recommendations to IRS with potential savings or revenues.
Scope and Methodology:
To address each objective, we compared the President's FY 2012 budget
justification for IRS to enacted amounts by appropriation from FY 2008
through FY 2010, including the FY 2011 budget justification and
annualized continuing resolution (CR) levels. Specifically, to:
* address the first four objectives, we reviewed relevant documents
and interviewed officials in the Chief Financial Officer's (CFO)
office;
* determine major IT systems, costs, and schedules, we reviewed
documentation, such as the 2010 Enterprise Transition Plan, and
interviewed officials in the Modernization and Information Technology
Services office;
* describe how PPACA costs are presented, we reviewed documents and
interviewed budget and program office officials working on PPACA
implementation; and;
* obtain information on prior year budget recommendations, we
interviewed CFO officials; to provide information on open matters and
recommendations, we judgmentally selected ones with a potential to
increase savings or revenues and primarily relied on GAO's prior work.
We conducted this performance audit from November 2010 through April
2011 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit
to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
We believe that the evidence obtained provides that reasonable basis.
Based on previous tests of the major data systems IRS uses to prepare
its budget justification, we determined the data in those systems were
sufficiently reliable for our purposes.
Results in Brief:
The IRS fiscal year 2012 budget request is a 9.4 percent, or $1.14
billion, increase over fiscal year 201Q with most of the increases for
the Enforcement and Operations Support appropriations. It is a 20
percent increase over 2008. The budget justification proposes a6
percent increase in full time equivalent staff since 2010 and an 11
percent increase since 2008.
IRS projects $190 million in savings and efficiencies for fiscal year
2012, which includes a $75 million reduction in IT infrastructure
spending The IT savings resulted from a systematic review that IRS
officials said applied leading practices in systems development and
resulted in additional saving. Although IRS looks for savings
throughout the agency these efforts are not as systematic as the IT
review. IRS budget officials cited costs as the reason. IRS IT
officials told us approximately five full time staff were dedicated to
finding the IT savings. In addition to projecting savings for 2012,
IRS reported on the amount of savings realized in 2010. Realized
savings in 2010 were about $5 million greater than originally
projected but the budget justification did not specify how the
additional savings were used.
The fiscal year 2012 budget justification includes 17 new enforcement,
taxpayer service, and other initiatives with a total cost of
approximately $839 million. The justification included ROI estimates
for six of them, with an average ROI of 6.4 to 1 by fiscal year 2014.
The budget justification includes 21 legislative proposals which IRS
estimated, if enacted, could result in over $10 billion in savings or
increased revenues over 10 years. IRS was able to report estimated
costs for 14 of these proposals, but the costs were aggregated. Cost
information for each of the 14 proposals is available and could be
more useful to Congress when weighing the merits of each proposal.
IRS is requesting $2.67 billion for IT funding in fiscal year 2012,
$2.3 billion of this funding is for Operations Support and the
remaining amount is for Business Systems Modernization (BSM). Out of
these appropriations, IRS funds about 155 IT systems, including 31
major systems. The justification summarizes cost and schedule
performance information for BSM, but not other major IT systems.
Without such summary information Congress lacks a high level indicator
of performance for most of IRS's IT spending.
The total request for PPACA in fiscal year 2012 is $473.4 million, or
42 percent of the fiscal year 2012 requested funding increase. These
costs are spread over five program initiatives within the Enforcement,
Operations Support, and Taxpayer Services appropriations. While the
PPACA costs are easily identified by initiative, the total cost is not
shown. The total can be calculated by adding the PPACA costs across
the five initiatives.
IRS implemented several of our prior recommendations to improve its
budget presentation, including comparing projected savings to actual
savings.[Footnote 7] Several of our open matters for Congress or
recommendations to IRS have the potential to increase revenue or
savings if implemented.[Footnote 8] (See Appendix II for details on
open matters and recommendations.)
Budget Trends:
The President's FY 2012 budget request for IRS is $13.3 billion, a 9.4
percent increase ($1.14 billion) over FY 2010. This was a 20 percent
increase over 2008.
Most of the increase goes toward Enforcement or Operations Support.
* Operations Support includes facilities, information systems, and
general management.
The $1.14 billion increase includes:
* + $838.8 million for new service, enforcement, and infrastructure
initiatives;
* + $401.7 million to reach the FY 2011 President's policy level;
* + $ 85.7 million for inflation; and;
* - $189.9 million in savings and efficiencies.
IRS expects to collect approximately $384 million from other
resources, such as reimbursables and user fees.
Budget Trends, FY 2008 through FY 2012:
Figure 1: FY 2008 through FY 2010 Enacted Amounts, FY 2011 Annualized
CR levels, and FY 2012 Budget Request for IRS by Appropriation:
[Refer to PDF for image: multiple line graph]
Fiscal year: 2008;
Enforcement: $4.780 billion;
Taxpayer Services: $2.191 billion;
Operations Support: $3.841 billion;
Business Systems Modernization (BSM): $267 million;
Health Insurance Tax Credit Administration (HITCA): $15 million.
Fiscal year: 2009;
Enforcement: $5.117 billion;
Taxpayer Services: $2.293 billion;
Operations Support: $3.867 billion;
Business Systems Modernization (BSM): $230 million;
Health Insurance Tax Credit Administration (HITCA): $15 million.
Fiscal year: 2010;
Enforcement: $5.504 billion;
Taxpayer Services: $2.279 billion;
Operations Support: $4.084 billion;
Business Systems Modernization (BSM): $264 million;
Health Insurance Tax Credit Administration (HITCA): $16 million.
Fiscal year: 2011;
Enforcement: $5.504 billion;
Taxpayer Services: $2.279 billion;
Operations Support: $4.084 billion;
Business Systems Modernization (BSM): $264 million;
Health Insurance Tax Credit Administration (HITCA): $16 million.
Fiscal year: 2012;
Enforcement: $5.967 billion;
Taxpayer Services: $2.345 billion;
Operations Support: $4.621 billion;
Business Systems Modernization (BSM): $334 million;
Health Insurance Tax Credit Administration (HITCA): $18 million.
Source: FY 2008 through FY 2012 IRS Congressional Budget
Justifications.
Note: FY 2011 data are the annualized CR level, which is about 4
percent less than the FY 2011 request.
[End of figure]
Budget Data, FY 2008 through FY 2012:
Table 1: FY 2008 through FY 2010 Enacted Amounts, FY 2011 Requested,
FY 2011 Annualized CR Levels, and FY 2012 Budget Request for IRS by
Appropriation:
Appropriation: Enforcement;
FY 2008 enacted: $4.780 billion;
FY 2009 enacted: $5.117 billion;
FY 2010 enacted: $5.504;
FY 2011 requested: $5.797 billion;
FY 2011 annualized CR: $5.504 billion;
FY 2012 requested[A]: $5.967 billion;
Percentage change FY 2010 enacted through FY 2012 requested: 8.4%.
Appropriation: Taxpayer Services;
FY 2008 enacted: $2.191 billion;
FY 2009 enacted: $2.293 billion;
FY 2010 enacted: $2.279 billion;
FY 2011 requested: $2.322 billion;
FY 2011 annualized CR: $2.279 billion;
FY 2012 requested[A]: $2.345 billion;
Percentage change FY 2010 enacted through FY 2012 requested: 2.9%.
Appropriation: Operations Support;
FY 2008 enacted: $3.841 billion;
FY 2009 enacted: $3.867 billion;
FY 2010 enacted: $4.084 billion;
FY 2011 requested: $4.108 billion;
FY 2011 annualized CR: $4.084 billion;
FY 2012 requested[A]: $4.621 billion;
Percentage change FY 2010 enacted through FY 2012 requested: 13.1%.
Appropriation: BSM;
FY 2008 enacted: $267 million;
FY 2009 enacted: $230 million;
FY 2010 enacted: $264 million;
FY 2011 requested: $387 million;
FY 2011 annualized CR: $264 million;
FY 2012 requested[A]: $334 million;
Percentage change FY 2010 enacted through FY 2012 requested: 26.4%.
Appropriation: HITCA;
FY 2008 enacted: $15 million;
FY 2009 enacted: $15 million;
FY 2010 enacted: $16 million;
FY 2011 requested: $19 million;
FY 2011 annualized CR: $16 million;
FY 2012 requested[A]: $18 million;
Percentage change FY 2010 enacted through FY 2012 requested: 12.5%.
Appropriation: Subtotal;
FY 2008 enacted: $11.095 billion;
FY 2009 enacted: $11.523 billion;
FY 2010 enacted: $12.146 billion;
FY 2011 requested: $12.633 billion;
FY 2011 annualized CR: $12.146 billion;
FY 2012 requested[A]: $13.284 billion;
Percentage change FY 2010 enacted through FY 2012 requested: 9.4%.
Other resources available for obligation:
FY 2008 enacted: $566 million;
FY 2009 enacted: $390 million;
FY 2010 enacted: $539 million;
FY 2011 requested: $444 million;
FY 2011 annualized CR: $526 million;
FY 2012 requested[A]: $384 million;
Percentage change FY 2010 enacted through FY 2012 requested: (29%).
Total funding available for obligation:
FY 2008 enacted: $11.661 billion;
FY 2009 enacted: $11.913 billion;
FY 2010 enacted: $12.686 billion;
FY 2011 requested: $13.077 billion;
FY 2011 annualized CR: $12.672 billion;
FY 2012 requested[A]: $13.668 billion;
Percentage change FY 2010 enacted through FY 2012 requested: 7.7%.
Source: FY 2008 through FY 2012 IRS Congressional Budget
Justifications.
Note: Dollars are nominal and not adjusted for inflation and numbers
may not add due to rounding.
[A] Includes an approximately $402 million adjustment to reach the FY
2011 President policy level, minus salary increases.
[End of table]
Other Resources Available for Obligation, FY 2008 through FY 2012:
Table 2: Other Resources Available for Obligation, FY 2008 through FY
2010 Actual; FY 2011 Projected; FY 2011 Annualized CR Projected; and
FY 2012 Projected:
Other resources: User fees;
FY 2008 actual: $247 million;
FY 2009 actual: $166 million;
FY 2010 actual: $176 million;
FY 2011 projected: $194 million;
FY 2011 annualized CR projected: $204 million;
FY 2012 projected: $204 million.
Other resources: Offsetting collections--reimbursables;
FY 2008 actual: $140 million;
FY 2009 actual: $114 million;
FY 2010 actual: $138 million;
FY 2011 projected: $145 million;
FY 2011 annualized CR projected: $137 million;
FY 2012 projected: $138 million.
Other resources: Available multi-year/no-year funds;
FY 2008 actual: $137 million;
FY 2009 actual: $86 million;
FY 2010 actual: $196 million;
FY 2011 projected: $105 million;
FY 2011 annualized CR projected: $185 million;
FY 2012 projected: $41 million.
Other resources: Recoveries;
FY 2008 actual: $5 million;
FY 2009 actual: $0.89 million;
FY 2010 actual: $6 million;
FY 2011 projected: N/A;
FY 2011 annualized CR projected: N/A;
FY 2012 projected: N/A.
Other resources: 50 percent carryover;
FY 2008 actual: $19 million;
FY 2009 actual: $16 million;
FY 2010 actual: $36 million;
FY 2011 projected: N/A;
FY 2011 annualized CR projected: N/A;
FY 2012 projected: N/A.
Other resources: Transfers in/out;
FY 2008 actual: $18 million;
FY 2009 actual: $8 million;
FY 2010 actual: ($12 million);
FY 2011 projected: N/A;
FY 2011 annualized CR projected: N/A;
FY 2012 projected: N/A.
Total other resources available for obligation:
FY 2008 actual: $566 million;
FY 2009 actual: $390 million;
FY 2010 actual: $539 million;
FY 2011 projected: $444 million;
FY 2011 annualized CR projected: $526 million;
FY 2012 projected: $384 million.
Source: FY 2008 through FY 2012 IRS Congressional Budget
Justifications.
Note: Dollars are nominal and not adjusted for inflation and numbers
may not add due to rounding. N/A means data not yet available.
[End of table]
Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) Trends:
Under the budget request, IRS's overall FTEs would increase by more
than 5 percent for FY 2012 over FY 2010 levels, with the largest
increases in Enforcement and Operations Support.
* Enforcement would increase by 8 percent (4,182 FTEs), and,
* Operations Support would increase by approximately 7 percent (880
FTEs).
This is a 6 percent increase in FTE staff since 2010 and an 10 percent
increase since 2008.
Operations Support is the second largest appropriations account. It
has, however, the third largest FTE count because it includes non-FTE
costs such as rent, IT hardware, and contractor support.
FTEs Funded from Appropriation Accounts, FY 2008 through FY 2012:
Figure 2: FY 2008 through FY 2010 FTEs, FY 2011 Annualized CR level
FTEs, and FY 2012 Requested FTEs by Appropriation:
[Refer to PDF for image: multiple line graph]
Fiscal year: 2008;
Enforcement: 47,596;
Taxpayer Services: 31,949;
Operations Support: 12,495;
BSM: 358;
HITCA: 17.
Fiscal year: 2009;
Enforcement: 48,952;
Taxpayer Services: 32,622;
Operations Support: 12,267;
BSM: 333;
HITCA: 15.
Fiscal year: 2010;
Enforcement: 50,983;
Taxpayer Services: 31,063;
Operations Support: 12,372;
BSM: 333;
HITCA: 15.
Fiscal year: 2011;
Enforcement: 50,983;
Taxpayer Services: 31,063;
Operations Support: 12,372;
BSM: 333;
HITCA: 15.
Fiscal year: 2012;
Enforcement: 54,582;
Taxpayer Services: 31,686;
Operations Support: 13,142;
BSM: 453;
HITCA: 15.
Source: FY 2008 through FY 2012 IRS Congressional Budget
Justifications.
Note: FY 2011 data is the annualized CR level, which is about 4
percent less than the FY 2011 request.
[End of figure]
Table 3: IRS FY 2008 through FY 2010 FTEs, FY 2011 Requested FTEs, FY
2011 Annualized CR FTEs, and FY 2012 Requested FTEs:
Appropriation: Enforcement;
FY 2008 actual: 46,431;
FY 2009 actual: 47,361;
FY 2010 actual: 50,400;
FY 2011 requested: 52,863;
FY 2011 annualized CR[A]: 50,983;
FY 2012 requested: 54,582;
Percentage change FY 2010 through FY 2012 requested: 8.3%
Appropriation: Taxpayer Services;
FY 2008 actual: 31,487;
FY 2009 actual: 32,422;
FY 2010 actual: 31,607;
FY 2011 requested: 30,668;
FY 2011 annualized CR[A]: 31,063;
FY 2012 requested: 31,686;
Percentage change FY 2010 through FY 2012 requested: less than 1.0%
Appropriation: Operations Support;
FY 2008 actual: 12,079;
FY 2009 actual: 12,101;
FY 2010 actual: 12,262;
FY 2011 requested: 12,384;
FY 2011 annualized CR[A]: 12,372;
FY 2012 requested: 13,142;
Percentage change FY 2010 through FY 2012 requested: 7.2%.
Appropriation: BSM;
FY 2008 actual: 347;
FY 2009 actual: 322;
FY 2010 actual: 337;
FY 2011 requested: 489;
FY 2011 annualized CR[A]: 333;
FY 2012 requested: 453;
Percentage change FY 2010 through FY 2012 requested: 34.4%.
Appropriation: HITCA;
FY 2008 actual: 10;
FY 2009 actual: 10;
FY 2010 actual: 12;
FY 2011 requested: 15;
FY 2011 annualized CR[A]: 15;
FY 2012 requested: 15;
Percentage change FY 2010 through FY 2012 requested: 25%.
Appropriation: Subtotal;
FY 2008 actual: 90,354;
FY 2009 actual: 92,216;
FY 2010 actual: 34,618;
FY 2011 requested: 96,419;
FY 2011 annualized CR[A]: 94,766;
FY 2012 requested: 99,878;
Percentage change FY 2010 through FY 2012 requested: 5.6%.
Other FTEs:
FY 2008 actual: 1,331;
FY 2009 actual: 1,153;
FY 2010 actual: 752;
FY 2011 requested: 961;
FY 2011 annualized CR[A]: 659;
FY 2012 requested: 659;
Percentage change FY 2010 through FY 2012 requested: (12.4%).
Total FTEs:
FY 2008 actual: 91,685;
FY 2009 actual: 93,369;
FY 2010 actual: 95,370;
FY 2011 requested: 97,380;
FY 2011 annualized CR[A]: 95,425;
FY 2012 requested: 100,537;
Percentage change FY 2010 through FY 2012 requested: 5.4%.
Source: FY 2008 through FY 2012 IRS Congressional Budget
Justifications.
[A] IRS reported FY 2011 FTEs assuming an annualized CR, but officials
told us it cannot maintain that level without a funding increase.
[End of table]
FTEs Funded from Reimbursables, User Fees, Transfers, and Available
Multi-Year/No-Year Funds, FY 2008 through FY 2012:
Table 4: FY 2008 through FY 2010 FTEs Actual, FY 2011 Projected FTEs,
FY 2011 Annualized CR FTEs, and FY 2012 Projected FTEs:
Other FTEs: Offsetting collections--reimbursables;
FY 2008 actual: 1,038;
FY 2009 actual: 792;
FY 2010 actual: 659;
FY 2011 projected: 961;
FY 2011 annualized CR: 659;
FY 2012 projected: 659.
Other FTEs: User fees;
FY 2008 actual: 0;
FY 2009 actual: 273;
FY 2010 actual: 93;
FY 2011 projected: 0;
FY 2011 annualized CR: 0;
FY 2012 projected: 0.
Other FTEs: Transfers in/out;
FY 2008 actual: 293;
FY 2009 actual: 0;
FY 2010 actual: FY 2010 actual: 0;
FY 2011 projected: 0;
FY 2011 annualized CR: 0;
FY 2012 projected: 0.
Other FTEs: Available multi-year/no-year funds;
FY 2008 actual: 0;
FY 2009 actual: 88;
FY 2010 actual: 0;
FY 2011 projected: 0;
FY 2011 annualized CR: 0;
FY 2012 projected: 0.
Other FTEs:
FY 2008 actual: 1,331;
FY 2009 actual: 1,153;
FY 2010 actual: 752;
FY 2011 projected: 961;
FY 2011 annualized CR: 659;
FY 2012 projected: 659.
Source: FY 2008 through FY 2012 IRS Congressional Budget
Justifications.
[End of table]
IRS Projected $190 Million in Savings and Efficiencies in FY 2012:
Table 5: Savings and Efficiencies, FY 2012:
Reduce IT infrastructure:
Taxpayer Services: 0;
Enforcement: 0;
Operations Support: $75.0 million;
BSM: 0;
HITCA: 0;
Total: $75.0 million.
Reduce training, travel, and programs:
Taxpayer Services: $9.9 million;
Enforcement: $9.4 million;
Operations Support: $5.9 million;
BSM: 0;
HITCA: $1.2 million;
Total: $27.4 million.
Increase E-File savings:
Taxpayer Services: $21.4 million;
Enforcement: 0;
Operations Support: $1.0 million;
BSM: 0;
HITCA: 0;
Total: $22.4 million.
Nonrecurring costs reductions:
Taxpayer Services: 0;
Enforcement: 0;
Operations Support: $22.1 million;
BSM: 0;
HITCA: 0;
Total: $22.1 million.
Reduce contracts:
Taxpayer Services: $4.5 million;
Enforcement: $0.3 million;
Operations Support: $15.9 million;
BSM: 0;
HITCA: 0;
Total: $20.8 million.
Reduce administrative expenses:
Taxpayer Services: $5.6 million;
Enforcement: $8.3 million;
Operations Support: $0.5 million;
BSM: 0;
HITCA: 0;
Total: $14.4 million.
Eliminate lockbox fees:
Taxpayer Services: 0;
Enforcement: $4.0 million;
Operations Support: 0;
BSM: 0;
HITCA: 0;
Total: $4.0 million.
Reduce certain mailings:
Taxpayer Services: 0;
Enforcement: 0;
Operations Support: $4.0 million;
BSM: 0;
HITCA: 0;
Total: $4.0 million.
Total savings and efficiencies:
Taxpayer Services: $41.4 million;
Enforcement: $22.0 million;
Operations Support: $124.4 million;
BSM: 0;
HITCA: $1.2 million;
Total: $190.0 million.
Source: FY 2012 IRS Congressional Budget Justification Numbers may not
add due to rounding.
[End of table]
IRS Expanded Efforts to Identify Savings and Efficiencies, but Did Not
Systematically Review All Spending:
To develop FY 2012 budget, the IRS Commissioner directed business
units to perform a "bottom up" review”-including an employee
suggestion component. According to IRS budget officials, most of the
$115 million in non-IT savings shown in Table 5 were identified
through this process. These savings were about one percent of total
non-IT spending ($10.6 billion).
The $75 million in IT infrastructure savings shown in Table 5 were
identified, according to IRS IT officials, through a systematic review
of contract and other IT activities. These officials said the
identified opportunities to streamline costs for providing IT services
while maintaining service levels. One result was the elimination of
unused software licenses. IRS also applied leading practices in
systems development which resulted in additional savings. Total
savings achieved were about three percent of total IT spending ($2.7
billion).
IRS budget officials told us that systematic reviews--such as the IT
review--are not conducted agency wide because of costs. IT officials
said that IRS devoted about five FTEs to their review.
Best practices suggest that agencies routinely identify savings and
efficiencies.[Footnote 9]
By not applying the more systematic and productive IT approach agency
wide, IRS might be missing opportunities to realize savings and
efficiencies. The cost of the systematic approach could be reduced by
not reviewing each budget area annually.
Recommendation: IRS should further expand its efforts to
systematically identify savings and efficiencies as part of its budget
development process on a periodic, but not necessarily annual, basis.
IRS Realized Efficiencies in Excess of Projections:
* IRS implemented our recommendation to provide information comparing
projected to actual savings.
* IRS's approach to projecting savings is conservative and consistent
with GAO guidance.[Footnote 10]
* IRS realized 7 percent ($5 million) more than projected from
increased e-filing and IT infrastructure and process improvements.
* The budget justification did not explain how excess savings were
used. IRS officials stated the information was available.
* Our prior work has emphasized the importance of transparency in
agencies' budget presentations.[Footnote 11]
* Knowing how an agency spent excess savings, particularly in years
when the excess is significant, could help Congress assess budgetary
needs in the future.
Recommendation: IRS should report in its budget justification how
savings beyond projections were used. The amount of explanation
provided should correspond to the amount of the savings.
FY 2012 Budget Justification Includes 17 New Program Initiatives:
The 17 new program initiatives have a total IRS estimated cost of
approximately $839 million.
* Enforcement initiatives: $606 million;
* Taxpayer Service initiatives: $114 million;
* Infrastructure initiatives: $119 million.
IRS estimated an ROI projection for six of the Enforcement initiatives.
Enforcement Initiatives:
Table 6: Enforcement Initiatives Expected to Produce an ROI, Costs,
Revenue, and Purpose:
Enforcement initiative: Increase international service and enforcement;
Estimated Cost (FY 2012): $72.6
Estimated Cost (FY 2014): $57.1
Estimated Revenue FY 2014 and ROI[A]: $467.1; Projected ROI: 8.2 to 1;
Purpose: Implement changes required by Foreign Account Tax Compliance
Act (FATCA).
Enforcement initiative: Increase collection coverage;
Estimated Cost (FY 2012): $52.0
Estimated Cost (FY 2014): $45.2
Estimated Revenue FY 2014 and ROI[A]: $398.3; Projected ROI: 8.8 to 1;
Purpose: Expand work on the collection inventory and improve
collection processes.
Enforcement initiative: Ensure accurate delivery of tax credits;
Estimated Cost (FY 2012): $ 51.0
Estimated Cost (FY 2014): $45.0
Estimated Revenue FY 2014 and ROI[A]: $183.3; Projected ROI: 4.1 to 1;
Purpose: Improve delivery of existing credits. Note: The full
estimated cost of this initiative is $260.3 million[B].
Enforcement initiative: Implement merchant card and basis reporting;
Estimated Cost (FY 2012): $35.8
Estimated Cost (FY 2014): $30.8
Estimated Revenue FY 2014 and ROI[A]: $185.7; Projected ROI: 6 to 1;
Purpose: Implement merchant card payment and third party
reimbursements and basis reporting on security sales.
Enforcement initiative: Increase coverage to address tax law changes
and other compliance issues;
Estimated Cost (FY 2012): $29.8
Estimated Cost (FY 2014): $27.3
Estimated Revenue FY 2014 and ROI[A]: $80.8; Projected ROI: 3 to 1;
Purpose: Compliance programs for new provisions such as direct-pay
bonds, tax-exempt hospitals, fees on manufacturers and importers of
prescription drugs, the excise tax on indoor tanning, etc. Note: The
full cost of this initiative is $96.7 million[B].
Enforcement initiative: Administer new statutory reporting
requirements;
Estimated Cost (FY 2012): $2.6
Estimated Cost (FY 2014): $2.4
Estimated Revenue FY 2014 and ROI[A]: $16.9; Projected ROI: 7 to 1;
Purpose: Implement new 1099 reporting requirements and health coverage
information reporting associated with PPACA. Note: The full estimated
cost of this initiative is $58.5 million[B].
Enforcement initiative: Total;
Estimated Cost (FY 2014): $243.7
Estimated Revenue FY 2014 and ROI[A]: $207.8
Estimated Revenue FY 2014 and ROI[A]: $1,332.1; Projected ROI: 6.4 to 1.
Source: GAO analysis of IRS's FY 2012 Congressional Budget
Justification.
[A] FY 2014 projected revenue when staff reach full potential.
[B] For the purpose of ROI calculation, capital IT expenses related to
the implementation of PPACA and nonrevenue-producing portions of
initiatives are excluded from this table.
[End of table]
IRS Is Making Progress in Its Ability to Provide Actual ROI
Information:
* We previously recommended that IRS provide Congress with information
comparing projected ROI information to actual R01.[Footnote 12]
* In response, IRS developed a preliminary means of determining actual
revenue collected from enforcement initiatives proposed in FY 2009.
* Initial comparisons of actual to projected revenue show revenue was
much higher than projected. IRS officials told us actual revenue data
included outliers”-one time, large-scale revenue collection efforts”-
that were not included in projections. We did not determine the
reliability of the figures.
* IRS's ROI calculations have limitations that reflect the challenges
of estimating ROIs. For example, they do not include benefits of
improved voluntary compliance. In addition, the "investment" or costs
should ideally recognize not just IRS costs but any costs borne by
others. IRS's ROI estimates provide useful information but, given the
limits of current data, are not complete estimates of benefits and
costs.
Taxpayer Service Initiatives:
Table 7: Taxpayer Service Initiatives, Costs, and Expected Benefits:
Taxpayer Service initiative: Improve taxpayer service;
Costs: $81.3 million;
Expected benefits: Staffing to address rising demand and increase the
Customer Service Representative Level of Service (LOS) from the
planned target of 71 percent in FY 2010 to 80 percent in FY 2012 and
handle increased calls from new tax law provisions, including PPACA.
Note: increasing the LOS to 80 percent assumes that IRS also receives
the $25.9 million requested in the FY 2011 budget justification.
Taxpayer Service initiative: Expand online options through IRS.gov
improvements;
Costs: $33.0 million;
Expected benefits: Moves high-volume transactions to IRS.gov,
improving self-service, reducing taxpayer burden, increasing
compliance, reducing costs, and improving security.
Taxpayer Service initiative: Total;
Costs: $114.3 million.
Source: IRS's FY 2012 Congressional Budget Justification.
[End of table]
Related to these initiatives, GAO has recently recommended that IRS
establish a customer service telephone standard and has reported that
visits to IRS.gov have increased. 2010 Tax Filing Season: IRS's
Performance Improved in Some Key Areas, but Efficiency Gains Are
Possible in Others, GA0-11-111 (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 16, 2010).
Other Enforcement, Infrastructure, and IT Initiatives:
Table 8: Non-R01 Initiatives, Cost and Purpose and Related GAO Work:
Program initiative: Continue migration from aging tax administration
system
Cost: $333.6 million;
Purpose and Related GAO work: Funding for several ongoing Business
Systems Modernization (BSM) projects; GAO-08-420, Business Systems
Modernization: Internal Revenue Service's Fiscal Year 2008 Expenditure
Plan.
Program initiative: Implement individual coverage requirement and
employer responsibility payments;
Cost: $62.5 million;
Purpose and Related GAO work: Fund the development of IT and
infrastructure related to PPACA.
Program initiative: Upgrade Integrated Financial System;
Cost: $27.5 million;
Purpose and Related GAO work: Upgrade for financial system.
Program initiative: Leverage return preparer program to reduce
noncompliance;
Cost: $16.6 million;
Purpose and Related GAO work: Enforcement of preparer compliance with
IRS rules; GAO-06-563T, Paid Tax Return Preparers: In a Limited Study,
Chain Preparers Made Serious Errors.
Program initiative: Enhance physical security for federal employees;
Cost: $15.5 million;
Purpose and Related GAO work: Upgrade physical security of IRS
facilities; GA0-10-873. Building Security: New Federal Standards Hold
Promise, but Could Be Strengthened to Better Protect Leased Space.
Program initiative: Enhance security and disaster recovery systems
capability;
Cost: $12.0 million;
Purpose and Related GAO work: Improve critical disaster recovery
capabilities for systems' GAO-11-308, Information Security: IRS Needs
to Enhance Internal Control over Financial Reporting and Taxpayer
Data, pg. 19.
Program initiative: Address appeals workload growth;
Cost: $9.1 million;
Purpose and Related GAO work: Increase staffing to handle rising
appeals inventories; GAO-07-112, Tax Administration: Little Evidence
of Procedural Errors in Collection Due Process Appeal Cases, but
Opportunities Exist to Improve the Program.
Program initiative: Implement uncertain tax position reporting
requirements;
Cost: $4.1 million;
Purpose and Related GAO work: Provide guidance and certainty on tax
positions; GAO-11-278, High-Risk Series: An Update, pg. 139.
Program initiative: Leveraging data to improve compliance;
Cost: $1.4 million;
Purpose and Related GAO work: Capitalize on recent increases in data
reported to IRS.
Program initiative: Total;
Cost: $482.30 million.
Source: GAO analysis of FY 2012 IRS Congressional Budget Justification
and previous GAO reports.
[End of table]
Legislative Proposals:
The budget justification includes 21 legislative proposals which, if
enacted, could result in over $10 billion in savings or increased
revenues over 10 years.
Some of the proposals are related to prior GAO work:
1. Provide Treasury with the regulatory authority to require
electronic filing of all Form 5500 Annual Report information.
* GAO-05-491, Private Pensions: Government Actions Could Improve the
Timeliness and Content of Form 5500 Pension Information.
2. Require taxpayers who prepare their returns electronically, but
file their returns on paper, to print their returns with a 2-D bar
code.
* GAO-08-38, Tax Administration: 2007 Filing Season Continues Trend of
Improvement, but Opportunities to Reduce Costs and Increase Tax
Compliance Should be Evaluated. pp. 15-16.
3. Allow IRS to collect data from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to reduce
fraudulent claims.
* GAO has previously published reports citing the benefits of sharing
data with other agencies to better ensure taxpayers are meeting their
tax obligations, including GA0-06-100, Taxpayer Information: Options
Exist to Enable Data Sharing Between IRS and USCIS but Each Presents
Challenges.
4. Allow IRS to absorb credit and debit card processing fees for
certain tax payments.
* GAO-10-11, Budget Issues: Electronic Processing of Non-IRS
Collections Has Increased but Better Understanding of Cost Structure
Is Needed.
5. Increase the penalty imposed on paid preparers who fail to comply
with Earned Income Tax Credit due diligence requirements.
* GAO-06-563T Paid Tax Return Preparers: In a Limited Study, Chain
Preparers Made Serious Errors.
IRS Reported Cost Estimates for Some Legislative Proposals:
* IRS implemented our prior recommendation to provide more information
about the costs of legislative proposals. It projected that aggregate
implementation costs for 14 proposals would be $50.4 million over 3
years.[Footnote 13] Cost information, however, exists for each
individual proposal.
* Congress often considers individual legislative proposals. Without
knowing the estimated costs to implement an individual proposal,
Congress is left without important information when weighing proposals.
* IRS officials cautioned that there is some uncertainty with cost
estimates and noted that enacted legislation can be different from
initial proposals.
Recommendation: IRS should provide cost estimates for individual
legislative proposals in future budget justifications.
IT Spending is $2.67 Billion of the IRS Budget Request:
IRS's IT funding is primarily in two appropriations accounts:
* Operations Support: $2.3 billion;
* BSM: $333.6 million.
IRS funds 155 IT systems. Of these, about 31 are considered "major,"
each having an overall life-cycle cost of greater than $50 million or
an annual budget of greater than $5 million. The other 124 systems are
"non-major."
Top IT Investments:
According to the IRS Enterprise Transition Plan 2010, the top IT
investments based on funding allocation and mission impact are:
* Customer Account Data Engine (CADE) 2 ” $199 million;
* Modernized e-File (MeF) ” $34 million;
* IRS Portal Strategy ” $113 million;
* Information Returns and Document Matching (IRDM) ” $23 million;
* Implement Return Review Program (RRP) ” $21 million;
* Enterprise Data Access Strategy (EDAS) ” Integrated Production Mode
(IPM) ” $7 million.
IRS Summarizes Cost and Schedule Performance for BSM, but Not for
Other Major Systems:
* The budget justification includes information on the percentage of
BSM projects within 10 percent of initial cost and schedule goals, but
not for major IT projects in Operations Support.
* IRS has detailed cost and schedule performance information for non-
BSM major IT projects, but has not been directed to include it in the
budget.
* Congressional stakeholders we met with stated that having a summary
of cost and schedule performance data for major IT systems in
Operations Support would be helpful for oversight.
Recommendation: IRS should include measures of cost and schedule
performance for major IT systems in Operations Support, such as it
does for BSM.
Cost of Implementing PPACA:
The total FY 2012 request for PPACA is $473.4 million.
* PPACA costs are spread over five initiatives, under 3 appropriation
accounts.
* PPACA costs by initiative are labeled; PPACA costs by appropriation
are not shown.
* Total PPACA costs are not shown, but can be calculated by adding the
costs in the five initiatives.
IRS received funding to implement the PPACA in FY 2010 and FY 2011
from the Department of Health and Human Service's (HHS) Health
Insurance Reform Implementation Fund (HIRIF). IRS does not plan to use
HIRIF funds after FY 2011. According to IRS officials, it received:
* $20 million in FY 2010 and;
* $72 million for first two quarters in FY 2011. Officials expect to
request more for the remainder of FY 2011, but do not plan to use
HIRIF funds after FY 2011.
PPACA Costs Are Spread Across Five Initiatives and Three Appropriation
Accounts:
Table 9: FY 2012 PPACA Costs and FTEs:
FY 2012 initiatives with PPACA costs: Improve taxpayer service;
Taxpayer Services, Dollars: $20.7 million;
Taxpayer Services, FTE: 150;
Enforcement, Dollars: 0;
Enforcement, FTE: 0;
Operations Support[A], Dollars: $30.6 million;
Operations Support[A], FTE: 0;
Total, Dollars: $51.3 million;
Total, FTE: 150.
FY 2012 initiatives with PPACA costs: Increase coverage to address tax
law changes and other compliance issues;
Taxpayer Services, Dollars: $4.9 million;
Taxpayer Services, FTE: 46;
Enforcement, Dollars: $22.8 million;
Enforcement, FTE: 174;
Operations Support[A], Dollars: $45.9 million;
Operations Support[A], FTE: 143;
Total, Dollars: $73.6 million;
Total, FTE: 363.
FY 2012 initiatives with PPACA costs: Ensure accurate delivery of tax
credits;
Taxpayer Services, Dollars: $4.9 million;
Taxpayer Services, FTE: 49;
Enforcement, Dollars: $23.0 million;
Enforcement, FTE: 233;
Operations Support[A], Dollars: $199.5 million;
Operations Support[A], FTE: 222;
Total, Dollars: $227.5 million;
Total, FTE: 504.
FY 2012 initiatives with PPACA costs: Administer new statutory
reporting requirements[B];
Taxpayer Services, Dollars: $1.1 million;
Taxpayer Services, FTE: 7;
Enforcement, Dollars: $5.1 million;
Enforcement, FTE: 48;
Operations Support[A], Dollars: $52.4 million;
Operations Support[A], FTE: 132;
Total, Dollars: $58.5 million;
Total, FTE: 187.
FY 2012 initiatives with PPACA costs: Implement individual coverage
requirement and employer responsibility payments;
Taxpayer Services, Dollars: 0;
Taxpayer Services, FTE: 0;
Enforcement, Dollars: 0;
Enforcement, FTE: 0;
Operations Support[A], Dollars: $62.5 million;
Operations Support[A], FTE: 65
Total, Dollars: $62.5 million;
Total, FTE: 65.
FY 2012 initiatives with PPACA costs: Total FY 2012 PPACA initiatives;
Taxpayer Services, Dollars: $31.6 million;
Taxpayer Services, FTE: 252;
Enforcement, Dollars: $50.9 million;
Enforcement, FTE: 455;
Operations Support[A], Dollars: $390.9 million;
Operations Support[A], FTE: 562;
Total, Dollars: $473.4 million;
Total, FTE: 1,269.
Source: IRS FY 2012 Congressional Budget Justification and GAO
analysis of IRS data.
[A] PPACA costs by appropriation were provided through supplemental
data from IRS.
[B] The administration has proposed to repeal the PPACA provision to
implement New 1099 Reporting Requirements" from the initiative
Administer New Statutory Reporting Requirements, estimated to be $23.3
million. Congress approved H.R. 4 and the bill is currently in front
of the President for signature. If enacted, H.R. 4 would repeal the
1099 reporting requirements in PPACA.
[End of table]
Most PPACA Costs Are for Contractors, Software, Equipment, and
Infrastructure:
Table 10: FY 2012 Non-FTE and FTE Related PPACA Costs by Program
Initiative:
FY 2012 PPACA Program initiatives: Improve taxpayer service;
Non-FTE Costs:
Contractor services: 0;
Software: 0;
Computer equipment: 0;
Facilities and infrastructure: $29.1 million;
Total: $29.1 million;
FTE Costs:
Total: $22.2 million;
Total PPACA costs: $51.3 million.
FY 2012 PPACA Program initiatives: Increase coverage to address tax
law changes and other compliance issues;
Non-FTE Costs:
Contractor services: $12.1 million;
Software: $0.750 million;
Computer equipment: $7.5 million;
Facilities and infrastructure: 0;
Total: $20.3 million;
FTE Costs:
Total: $53.3 million;
Total PPACA costs: $73.6 million.
FY 2012 PPACA Program initiatives: Ensure accurate delivery of tax
credits;
Non-FTE Costs:
Contractor services: $112.0 million;
Software: $10.9 million;
Computer equipment: $17.0 million;
Facilities and infrastructure: $13.8 million;
Total: $153.6 million;
FTE Costs:
Total: $73.8 million;
Total PPACA costs: $227.5 million.
FY 2012 PPACA Program initiatives: Administer new statutory reporting
requirements;
Non-FTE Costs:
Contractor services: $19.9 million;
Software: $3.2 million;
Computer equipment: $5.0 million;
Facilities and infrastructure: 0;
Total: $28.1 million;
FTE Costs:
Total: $30.4 million;
Total PPACA costs: $58.5 million.
Implement individual coverage requirement and employer responsibility;
payments;
Non-FTE Costs:
Contractor services: $43.0 million;
Software: $1.0 million;
Computer equipment: $7.0 million;
Facilities and infrastructure: 0;
Total: $51.1 million;
FTE Costs:
Total: $11.4 million;
Total PPACA costs: $62.5 million.
Total FY 2012 PPACA non-FTE related cost:
Non-FTE Costs:
Contractor services: $187.0 million;
Software: $15.9 million;
Computer equipment: $36.5 million;
Facilities and infrastructure: $42.9 million;
Total: $282.2 million;
FTE Costs:
Total: $191.1 million;
Total PPACA costs: $473.4 million.
Source: IRS FY2012 Congressional Budget Justification and GAO analysis
of IRS data. Note: Numbers may not add due to rounding.
[End of table]
IRS Has Made Progress In Implementing Recommendations From Prior GAO
Budget Work:
RS changed its budget justification so it:
* provides information comparing estimated prior year savings to
actuals,
* provides the aggregate costs of most legislative proposals, and,
* provides a brief description of performance measures used in the
budget.[Footnote 14]
IRS is making progress in its ability to provide actual ROI
information.[Footnote 15]
All of these changes will help improve transparency and provide
decision makers with better information.
Open Recommendations from Past Budget Reviews:
* Provide additional information, which could be qualitative if
necessary to avoid losing existing reprogramming flexibility, about
the program activities in the budget justification to better indicate
IRS's priorities.[Footnote 16]
* Explain in the budget justification noteworthy changes in
performance goals that reflect changes from previous performance and
describe the impact on funding).
* Extend the use of ROI in future budget proposals to include major
enforcement programs.[Footnote 17]
Open Matters for Congress and Recommendations to IRS Could Result in
Potential Savings or Increased Revenues:
* Twenty-four GAO reports contain 7 matters for Congress and 77
recommendations to IRS:
- 39 increase revenue; 14 increase both savings and revenue; and 31
have indirect financial benefits.
* For example, if IRS implemented our recommendations to help make
taxpayers better aware of what real estate taxes are nondeductible IRS
could increase revenue by tens or hundreds of million dollars per
year. [Footnote 18]
[End of Appendix I, Briefing Slides]
Appendix II: List of Open Matters for Congress and Recommendations to
IRS That Could Result in Potential Savings or Increased Revenues:
Table 1: List of Open Matters for Congress and Recommendations to IRS
That Could Result In Potential Savings or Increased Revenues:
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: Congress may wish to consider requiring IRS to periodically
adjust for inflation, and round appropriately, the fixed dollar
amounts of the civil penalties to account for the decrease in real
value over time and so that penalties for the same infraction are
consistent over time. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-07-1062#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Compliance:
Inflation Has Significantly Decreased the Real Value of Some Penalties
(07-1062).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Secretary of the Treasury should ensure that the tax gap
strategy includes (1) a segment on improving sole proprietor
compliance that is coordinated with broader tax gap reduction efforts
and (2) specific proposals, such as the options we identified, that
constitute an integrated package. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-07-1014#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: A Strategy
for Reducing the Gap Should Include Options for Addressing Sole
Proprietor Noncompliance (07-1014).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct the
appropriate officials to determine actions needed to require software
vendors to include bar codes on printed individual income tax returns
and the cost of those actions. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-38#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase savings and revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
2007 Filing Season Continues Trend of Improvement, but Opportunities
to Reduce Costs and Increase Tax Compliance Should be Evaluated (08-
38).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct the
appropriate officials to determine how much electronic filing would
have to increase, either through electronic filing mandates or bar
coding, for the benefits of transcribing all remaining paper returns
to exceed the costs. (To see the current status of this recommendation
view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-38#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase savings and revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
2007 Filing Season Continues Trend of Improvement, but Opportunities
to Reduce Costs and Increase Tax Compliance Should be Evaluated (08-
38).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct the
appropriate officials to determine the benefits, in terms of
processing costs and improved enforcement, of having all return
information available electronically. (To see the current status of
this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-38#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase savings and revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
2007 Filing Season Continues Trend of Improvement, but Opportunities
to Reduce Costs and Increase Tax Compliance Should be Evaluated (08-
38).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should extend the use of
return on investment (ROI) in future budget proposals to include major
enforcement programs. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-567#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Internal Revenue
Service: Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Request and Interim Performance
Results of IRS's 2008 Tax Filing Season (08-567).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To provide better monitoring and more detailed guidance on
collection actions to be pursued against egregious payroll tax
offenders, to strengthen existing collection tools, and to develop
additional enforcement tools to effectively identify potential levy
sources, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop a process
to monitor collection actions taken by revenue officers against
egregious payroll tax offenders to ensure collection actions
appropriately utilize all available collection tools contained in the
Internal Revenue Manual. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-617#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Compliance:
Businesses Owe Billions in Federal Payroll Taxes (08-617).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To provide better monitoring and more detailed guidance on
collection actions to be pursued against egregious payroll tax
offenders, to strengthen existing collection tools, and to develop
additional enforcement tools to effectively identify potential levy
sources, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop and
implement procedures to expeditiously file a Notice of Federal Tax
Lien against property as soon as possible after payroll tax debt is
identified (including cases in the queue awaiting assignment) and
ensure liens are filed on both businesses with unpaid payroll taxes
and owners/officers assessed a TFRP. (To see the current status of
this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-617#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Compliance:
Businesses Owe Billions in Federal Payroll Taxes (08-617).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To provide better monitoring and more detailed guidance on
collection actions to be pursued against egregious payroll tax
offenders, to strengthen existing collection tools, and to develop
additional enforcement tools to effectively identify potential levy
sources, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop and
implement procedures to monitor and report on revenue officers'
compliance with the new TFRP assessment time frames to ensure revenue
officers are making TFRP determinations and assessments in a timely
manner. (To see the current status of this recommendation view:
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-617#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Compliance:
Businesses Owe Billions in Federal Payroll Taxes (08-617).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To provide better monitoring and more detailed guidance on
collection actions to be pursued against egregious payroll tax
offenders, to strengthen existing collection tools, and to develop
additional enforcement tools to effectively identify potential levy
sources, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop
performance goals and measures that specifically evaluate the
accumulation of unpaid payroll taxes by businesses (especially
egregious businesses with over 20 quarters of payroll tax debt), the
extent and timeliness of TFRP assessments, and the effectiveness of
actions taken to collect unpaid payroll taxes and TFRP assessments.
(To see the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-617#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Compliance:
Businesses Owe Billions in Federal Payroll Taxes (08-617).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To provide better monitoring and more detailed guidance on
collection actions to be pursued against egregious payroll tax
offenders, to strengthen existing collection tools, and to develop
additional enforcement tools to effectively identify potential levy
sources, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should review current
case prioritization and assignment practices to determine if IRS's
enforcement and collection procedures could be enhanced by requiring,
to the maximum extent feasible, businesses with egregious payroll tax
debt and the responsible owners/officers with a Trust Fund Recovery
Penalty (TFRP) assessment be treated as a single unified and
coordinated collection effort assigned to a single revenue officer.
(To see the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-617#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Compliance:
Businesses Owe Billions in Federal Payroll Taxes (08-617).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To provide better monitoring and more detailed guidance on
collection actions to be pursued against egregious payroll tax
offenders, to strengthen existing collection tools, and to develop
additional enforcement tools to effectively identify potential levy
sources, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should work with states
that have developed procedures for matching financial accounts to tax
debts to evaluate the potential for IRS to either develop and
implement similar measures or partner with states that currently have
that tool to leverage their efforts to assist revenue officers in
identifying a business's leviable assets. (To see the current status
of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-617#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Compliance:
Businesses Owe Billions in Federal Payroll Taxes (08-617).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To provide clarity for which taxpayers with rental real estate
activity must report expense payments on information returns and to
provide greater information reporting, Congress may wish to consider
amending the Internal Revenue Code to make all taxpayers with rental
real estate activity subject to the same information reporting
requirements as other taxpayers operating a trade or business. (To see
the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-956#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: $3.1 billion over 10 years;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: Actions That
Could Improve Rental Real Estate Reporting Compliance (08-956).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help IRS identify taxpayers who may have misreported their
rental real estate activity, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
should require third parties to report mortgaged property addresses on
Form 1098 mortgage interest statements. (To see the current status of
this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-956#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: Actions That
Could Improve Rental Real Estate Reporting Compliance (08-956).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service should
determine why U.S. withholding agents and Qualified Intermediaries
report billions of dollars in funds flowing to unknown jurisdictions
and to unidentified recipients. Based on this determination, IRS
should take appropriate steps to recover any withholding taxes that
should have been paid and to better ensure that U.S. taxes are
withheld when account owners do not properly identify themselves. (To
see the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-08-99#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Compliance:
Qualified Intermediary Program Provides Some Assurance That Taxes on
Foreign Investors Are Withheld and Reported, but Can Be Improved (08-
99).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop an action
plan for its reject working group that includes such elements as the
scope of responsibility, a plan for testing changes, and a schedule
for implementing changes. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-1026#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase savings and revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Opportunities Exist for IRS to Enhance Taxpayer Service and
Enforcement for the 2010 Filing Season (09-1026).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop and
document a strategy to prevent and resolve errors causing
electronically filed returns to be rejected. (To see the current
status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-1026#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase savings and revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Opportunities Exist for IRS to Enhance Taxpayer Service and
Enforcement for the 2010 Filing Season (09-1026).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should involve
stakeholders from the paid preparer and tax software industries in
IRS's current reject working group. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-1026#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase savings and revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Opportunities Exist for IRS to Enhance Taxpayer Service and
Enforcement for the 2010 Filing Season (09-1026).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should provide paid
preparers and software providers with clearer descriptions of why
returns are rejected. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-1026#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase savings and revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Opportunities Exist for IRS to Enhance Taxpayer Service and
Enforcement for the 2010 Filing Season (09-1026).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: Given the potential for improving compliance now and in the
future, Congress may wish to provide IRS with the authority to use
math error checks to identify and correct returns with ineligible (1)
IRA "catch-up" contributions, and (2) contributions to traditional
IRAs from taxpayers over age 70-1/2. (To see the current status of
this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-146#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase savings and revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
IRS's 2008 Filing Season Generally Successful Despite Challenges,
although IRS Could Expand Enforcement during Returns Processing (09-
146).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To simplify the burden that the corporate exemption places on
payers to distinguish payees' business status and also provide greater
information reporting, Congress may wish to consider requiring payers
to report payments to corporations on the form 1099 MISC, as we
previously suggested and as proposed in the Bush Administration's
budget. (To see the current status of this recommendation view:
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-238#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Could Do
More to Promote Compliance by Third Parties with Miscellaneous Income
Reporting Requirements (09-238).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To gauge the extent of 1099-MISC payer noncompliance and its
contribution to the tax gap, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
should, as part of future research studies, determine the nature and
characteristics of those payers that do not comply with 1099-MISC
reporting requirements so that this information can be factored into
an IRS-wide strategy for increasing 1099-MISC payer compliance. (To
see the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-238#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Could Do
More to Promote Compliance by Third Parties with Miscellaneous Income
Reporting Requirements (09-238).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To gauge the extent of 1099-MISC payer noncompliance and its
contribution to the tax gap, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
should, as part of future research studies, develop an estimate of
1099-MISC payer noncompliance. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-238#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Could Do
More to Promote Compliance by Third Parties with Miscellaneous Income
Reporting Requirements (09-238).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help IRS improve its use of 1099-MISC information, the
Commissioner of Internal Revenue should collect and analyze data on
the types of unproductive AUR cases to help identify reoccurring
errors for use in the AUR case selection process and for identifying
ways to improve guidance and outreach to help payers and payees more
accurately report 1099-MISC payments. (To see the current status of
this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-238#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Could Do
More to Promote Compliance by Third Parties with Miscellaneous Income
Reporting Requirements (09-238).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help payers better understand their 1099-MISC reporting
responsibilities, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should assess
whether adding a checkbox to business tax returns, inquiring whether
all 1099-MISCs have been submitted, to serve as a reminder to payers
would help increase 1099-MISC payer compliance. (To see the current
status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-238#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Could Do
More to Promote Compliance by Third Parties with Miscellaneous Income
Reporting Requirements (09-238).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help payers better understand their 1099-MISC reporting
responsibilities, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should include
a chart on the Form 1099-MISC as well as business income tax
instructions for distinguishing reportable from non-reportable
payments and for calculating whether reportable payments reached the
1099-MISC reporting threshold. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-238#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Could Do
More to Promote Compliance by Third Parties with Miscellaneous Income
Reporting Requirements (09-238).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To increase IRS's ability to detect 1099-MISC payer
noncompliance, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should test the
option of developing a stop filer notice program to target business,
state, and local entities that submitted 1099-MISC one year but did
not do so the next. (To see the current status of this recommendation
view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-238#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Could Do
More to Promote Compliance by Third Parties with Miscellaneous Income
Reporting Requirements (09-238).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To reduce the submission burden facing many payers each
submitting small numbers of 1099-MISCs, the Commissioner of Internal
Revenue should collect data on the numbers of computer-generated black
and white 1099-MISCs submitted by payers and the labor spent
reentering forms that cannot be scanned, and evaluate the cost-
effectiveness of eliminating or relaxing the red ink requirement. (To
see the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-238#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Could Do
More to Promote Compliance by Third Parties with Miscellaneous Income
Reporting Requirements (09-238).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help increase electronic filing and allow IRS to better
target its efforts, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct
the appropriate officials to assess the extent to which the reliance
on tax software creates significant risks to tax administration,
particularly in the areas of tax return accuracy, the security and
privacy of taxpayer information, and the reliability of electronic
filing. (To see the current status of this recommendation view:
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-297#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Many Taxpayers Rely on Tax Software and IRS Needs to Assess Associated
Risks (09-297).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help increase electronic filing and allow IRS to better
target its efforts, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct
the appropriate officials to develop and implement a plan for
effectively monitoring compliance with recommended security and
privacy standards for the 2010 filing season. (To see the current
status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-297#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Many Taxpayers Rely on Tax Software and IRS Needs to Assess Associated
Risks (09-297).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help increase electronic filing and allow IRS to better
target its efforts, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct
the appropriate officials to determine if tax software companies that
are authorized to participate in online filing are adhering to
advisory security and privacy standards for the 2009 filing season.
(To see the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-297#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Many Taxpayers Rely on Tax Software and IRS Needs to Assess Associated
Risks (09-297).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help increase electronic filing and allow IRS to better
target its efforts, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct
the appropriate officials to ensure that, as part of the second phase
of IRS's Advancing E-file Study, surveys ask taxpayers the effect of
tax software pricing changes and the opportunity to file for free
using online tax forms on IRS's Web site on their decision to either
file or not file tax returns electronically. (To see the current
status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-297#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Many Taxpayers Rely on Tax Software and IRS Needs to Assess Associated
Risks (09-297).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help increase electronic filing and allow IRS to better
target its efforts, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct
the appropriate officials to require tax software companies, as soon
as practical, to include a software identification number that
specifically identifies the software package used to prepare tax
returns, which can be used in IRS research efforts. (To see the
current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-297#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase savings and revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Many Taxpayers Rely on Tax Software and IRS Needs to Assess Associated
Risks (09-297).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help increase electronic filing and allow IRS to better
target its efforts, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct
the appropriate officials to the extent possible, study the effect of
the 2009 pricing changes and the opportunity to file for free using
online tax forms on IRS's Web site on taxpayers' use of tax software
and electronic filing rates. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-297#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Many Taxpayers Rely on Tax Software and IRS Needs to Assess Associated
Risks (09-297).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help ensure that individual taxpayers are getting the best
information and assistance possible from third parties on how to
comply with the real-estate tax deduction, the Commissioner of
Internal Revenue should reach out to local governments to explore
options for clarifying charges on the local tax bills or adding
disclaimers to these bills that some charges may not be deductible.
(To see the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-521#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Real Estate Tax
Deduction: Taxpayers Face Challenges in Determining What Qualifies;
Better Information Could Improve Compliance (09-521).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help ensure that individual taxpayers are getting the best
information and assistance possible from third parties on how to
comply with the real-estate tax deduction, the Commissioner of
Internal Revenue should reach out to mortgage servicers to discuss
adding disclaimers to their annual statements that some charges may
not be deductible. (To see the current status of this recommendation
view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-521#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Real Estate Tax
Deduction: Taxpayers Face Challenges in Determining What Qualifies;
Better Information Could Improve Compliance (09-521).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help ensure that individual taxpayers are getting the best
information and assistance possible from third parties on how to
comply with the real-estate tax deduction, the Commissioner of
Internal Revenue should reach out to tax-preparation software firms
and other tax preparers to ensure that they are alerting taxpayers
that some local charges are not deductible and that they are aware of
any enhancements to IRS's guidance. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-521#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Real Estate Tax
Deduction: Taxpayers Face Challenges in Determining What Qualifies;
Better Information Could Improve Compliance (09-521).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To improve IRS's guidance to its examiners auditing the real-
estate tax deduction, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should
revise the guidance to indicate that evidence of deductibility should
not rely on mortgage escrow statements, Forms 1098, and canceled
checks (which can be evidence of payment), and may require more than
reliance on a real-estate tax bill. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-521#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Real Estate Tax
Deduction: Taxpayers Face Challenges in Determining What Qualifies;
Better Information Could Improve Compliance (09-521).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To improve IRS's guidance to its examiners auditing the real-
estate tax deduction, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should
revise the guidance to require examiners to ask taxpayers to
substantiate the deductibility of the amounts claimed whenever they
are examining the real-estate tax deduction and they have reason to
believe that taxpayers have claimed nondeductible charges that are
large, unusual, or questionable. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-521#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Real Estate Tax
Deduction: Taxpayers Face Challenges in Determining What Qualifies;
Better Information Could Improve Compliance (09-521).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To learn more about where tax noncompliance is most likely,
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should identify a cost-effective
means of obtaining information about charges that appear on real-
estate tax bills in order to identify local governments with
potentially large nondeductible charges on their bills. (To see the
current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-521#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Real Estate Tax
Deduction: Taxpayers Face Challenges in Determining What Qualifies;
Better Information Could Improve Compliance (09-521).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To learn more about where tax noncompliance is most likely,
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should, if such local governments
are identified, obtain and use the information, including uses such as
compliance research focused on nondeductible charges;
outreach to such local governments to help them determine which
charges are deductible charges and help affected taxpayers correctly
compute the deduction;
targeted outreach to the tax-preparation and mortgage-servicer
industries, and targeted examinations of the real-estate tax deduction
in the localities. (To see the current status of this recommendation
view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-521#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Real Estate Tax
Deduction: Taxpayers Face Challenges in Determining What Qualifies;
Better Information Could Improve Compliance (09-521).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should collect and retain
the cost and revenue data needed to develop ROI estimates for programs
requiring businesses to demonstrate federal tax compliance to obtain
state business licenses. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-569#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Compliance:
Opportunities Exist to Improve Tax Compliance of Applicants for State
Business Licenses (09-569).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should evaluate the ROI
of existing arrangements where states require federal tax compliance
to qualify for state business licenses to determine whether the ROI of
these programs is sufficient to merit their expansion. (To see the
current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-569#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Compliance:
Opportunities Exist to Improve Tax Compliance of Applicants for State
Business Licenses (09-569).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should, to the extent
that existing data-sharing arrangements have a sufficiently high ROI,
coordinate with states to expand requirements to comply with federal
taxes to qualify for state business licenses and monitor the ROI of
these expansions to gauge their success. (To see the current status of
this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-569#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Compliance:
Opportunities Exist to Improve Tax Compliance of Applicants for State
Business Licenses (09-569).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of the IRS should take steps to develop ROIs
for IRS's enforcement programs using actual revenue and full cost data
and compare the actual ROIs to the projected ROIs included in the
budget requests. (To see the current status of this recommendation
view: [hyperlink, http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-754#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Internal Revenue
Service: Review of the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Request (09-754).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should conduct a test to
evaluate whether mortgage interest deduction-related outreach programs
to taxpayers and tax return preparers could be a cost-effective way to
reduce noncompliance;
outreach might include sending correspondence covering key rules and
common mistakes or promoting seminars on common types of misreporting.
(To see the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-769#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Home Mortgage
Interest Deduction: Despite Challenges Presented by Complex Tax Rules,
IRS Could Enhance Enforcement and Guidance (09-769).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should investigate
whether using information from private sources would be productive in
detecting mortgage interest noncompliance, especially for home equity
debt. (To see the current status of this recommendation view:
[hyperlink, http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-769#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Home Mortgage
Interest Deduction: Despite Challenges Presented by Complex Tax Rules,
IRS Could Enhance Enforcement and Guidance (09-769).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should revise Form 1098
to require third parties to provide information on mortgage balances,
the address of a home securing a mortgage, and an indicator of whether
the mortgage is for a current year refinancing. (To see the current
status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-769#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Home Mortgage
Interest Deduction: Despite Challenges Presented by Complex Tax Rules,
IRS Could Enhance Enforcement and Guidance (09-769).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should revise examiner
training materials by adding examples cited as common problems by
auditors and paid tax return preparers, such as those involving
multiple homes or home-based businesses, and after the Chief Counsel's
final determination on the acquisition limit, revise examiner training
and the worksheet in guidance to reflect the project's outcome. (To
see the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-769#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Home Mortgage
Interest Deduction: Despite Challenges Presented by Complex Tax Rules,
IRS Could Enhance Enforcement and Guidance (09-769).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: In order to better assess whether changes are needed in the
way IRS administers activities not engaged in for profit provisions,
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should take steps to collect
information on examinations of activities not engaged in for profit
issues from the compliance program. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-815#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: Limiting
Sole Proprietor Loss Deductions Could Improve Compliance but Would
Also Limit Some Legitimate Losses (09-815).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: In order to better assess whether changes are needed in the
way IRS administers activities not engaged in for profit provisions,
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should take steps to estimate the
extent of activities not engaged in for profit noncompliance from its
ongoing research programs. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-815#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: Limiting
Sole Proprietor Loss Deductions Could Improve Compliance but Would
Also Limit Some Legitimate Losses (09-815).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To better ensure the notice phase is achieving desired results
at the lowest costs, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should
establish objectives and performance measures to reflect the desired
results for the notice phase. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-976#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase savings and revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Debt Collection:
IRS Needs to Better Manage the Collection Notices Sent to Individuals
(09-976).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To better ensure the notice phase is achieving desired results
at the lowest costs, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should
periodically and regularly evaluate the business rules in terms of
efficiency and effectiveness or other results and ensure the results
are available to managers so the data and methodologies can be used or
considered in future evaluations. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-976#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase savings and revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Debt Collection:
IRS Needs to Better Manage the Collection Notices Sent to Individuals
(09-976).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To better ensure the notice phase is achieving desired results
at the lowest costs, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should
provide IRS collection managers and executives accessible, reliable
information on what the business rules are. (To see the current status
of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-976#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase savings and revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Debt Collection:
IRS Needs to Better Manage the Collection Notices Sent to Individuals
(09-976).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To improve compliance with shareholder basis rules, Congress
may wish to require S corporations to calculate and report
shareholder's stock and debt basis as completely as possible. S
corporations would report the calculation on the Schedule K-1 and send
it to shareholders as well as IRS. If Congress judges that stock
purchase price information that is currently only available to
shareholders should not be transmitted to the S corporation due to
privacy concerns, an alternative is to require that S corporations
report less complete basis calculations using information already
available to the S corporation. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-195#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: Actions
Needed to Address Noncompliance with S Corporation Tax Rules (10-195).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help address the compliance challenges with S corporation
rules, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should identify and
evaluate options for improving the performance of paid preparers who
prepare S corporation returns, such as licensing preparers and
ensuring that appropriate penalties are available and used. (To see
the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-195#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: Actions
Needed to Address Noncompliance with S Corporation Tax Rules (10-195).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help address the compliance challenges with S corporation
rules, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should provide more
specific guidance to shareholders and tax preparers, such as that
provided to IRS examiners, on determining adequate shareholder
compensation through means such as IRS's Web site. (To see the current
status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-195#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: Actions
Needed to Address Noncompliance with S Corporation Tax Rules (10-195).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help address the compliance challenges with S corporation
rules, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should require examiners
to document their analysis such as using comparable salary data when
determining adequate shareholder compensation or document why no
analysis was needed. (To see the current status of this recommendation
view: [hyperlink, http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-195#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: Actions
Needed to Address Noncompliance with S Corporation Tax Rules (10-195).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To help address the compliance challenges with S corporation
rules, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should send additional
guidance on S corporation rules and record-keeping requirements to new
S corporations to distribute to their shareholders, including
providing guidance on calculating basis and directing them to the
specific IRS Web site related to S corporation tax rules. (To see the
current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-195#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: Actions
Needed to Address Noncompliance with S Corporation Tax Rules (10-195).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: Congress may wish to consider providing IRS with math error
authority (MEA) to use prior years' tax return information to
automatically verify taxpayers' compliance with the limit on the
number of years the Hope credit can be claimed. (To see the current
status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-225#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase savings and revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): 2009 Tax Filing
Season: IRS Met Many 2009 Goals, but Telephone Access Remained Low,
and Taxpayer Service and Enforcement Could Be Improved (10-225).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To reduce taxpayer confusion and enhance compliance with the
eligibility requirements for higher education benefits, IRS should
determine the feasibility of using current information reported on
Form 1098-T, such as school location and taxpayer identification
number or social security number (SSN), in IRS's compliance programs.
(To see the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-225#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): 2009 Tax Filing
Season: IRS Met Many 2009 Goals, but Telephone Access Remained Low,
and Taxpayer Service and Enforcement Could Be Improved (10-225).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To reduce taxpayer confusion and enhance compliance with the
eligibility requirements for higher education benefits, IRS should
revise Form 1098-T to improve the usefulness of information on
qualifying education expenses. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-225#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): 2009 Tax Filing
Season: IRS Met Many 2009 Goals, but Telephone Access Remained Low,
and Taxpayer Service and Enforcement Could Be Improved (10-225).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Congress may wish to consider broadening IRS's ability to
use math error authority (MEA), with appropriate safeguards against
misuse of that authority. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-349#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase savings and revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Recovery Act: IRS
Quickly Implemented Tax Provisions, but Reporting and Enforcement
Improvements Are Needed (10-349).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should determine if
creating an automated program to identify nonresident aliens who may
have improperly filed Form 1040 instead of Form 1040NR by using ITIN
information would be a cost-effective means to improve compliance. (To
see the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-429#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Compliance: IRS
May Be Able to Improve Compliance for Nonresident Aliens and Updating
Requirements Could Reduce Their Compliance Burden (10-429).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To ensure federal contractors comply with filing requirements,
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should establish a process
similar to the Federal Employee/Retiree Delinquency Initiative (FERDI)
program for federal workers and retirees that will give a high
priority to businesses identified as potential nonfilers that have
federal contracts. (To see the current status of this recommendation
view: [hyperlink, http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-950#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Has
Modernized Its Business Nonfiler Program but Could Benefit from More
Evaluation and Use of Third-Party Data (10-950).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To ensure that IRS does not inappropriately close cases as not
liable to file returns, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should
reinforce to collections staff the need to check for business activity
using information return data and selection codes. (To see the current
status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-950#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Has
Modernized Its Business Nonfiler Program but Could Benefit from More
Evaluation and Use of Third-Party Data (10-950).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To ensure that IRS does not inappropriately close cases as not
liable to file returns, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should
study the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of using private sector
business activity data and federal contract data to make a
determination of whether federal contractors and other businesses are
liable for filing tax returns. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-950#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Has
Modernized Its Business Nonfiler Program but Could Benefit from More
Evaluation and Use of Third-Party Data (10-950).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To identify additional actions to help achieve the goal of
fewer unproductive cases, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should
add closing codes that would better indicate all known causes for "not
liable to file" determinations and use this information to analyze
causes of unproductive cases and use them as appropriate to identify
any actions IRS could take either administratively or through
education and outreach that could reduce the number of business
nonfiler cases where the filing requirement in IRS's records is not
applicable. (To see the current status of this recommendation view:
[hyperlink, http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-950#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Has
Modernized Its Business Nonfiler Program but Could Benefit from More
Evaluation and Use of Third-Party Data (10-950).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To monitor the performance of business nonfiler activities,
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop a separate
efficiency measure for business nonfilers insofar as doing so is cost-
effective. (To see the current status of this recommendation view:
[hyperlink, http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-950#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Has
Modernized Its Business Nonfiler Program but Could Benefit from More
Evaluation and Use of Third-Party Data (10-950).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To monitor the performance of business nonfiler activities,
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop an evaluation plan
for the BMF CCNIP selection codes, including both an initial
evaluation and an ongoing monitoring plan, and conduct an evaluation
based on this plan. Results from the study and the ongoing monitoring
could be used to refine the selection codes to improve the
effectiveness of the program. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-950#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Has
Modernized Its Business Nonfiler Program but Could Benefit from More
Evaluation and Use of Third-Party Data (10-950).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To monitor the performance of business nonfiler activities,
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should set a deadline for
developing data that can be used to measure the performance of the BMF
CCNIP and its business nonfiler compliance activities overall. (To see
the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-950#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Has
Modernized Its Business Nonfiler Program but Could Benefit from More
Evaluation and Use of Third-Party Data (10-950).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To understand the scope of the business nonfiler population,
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should estimate the magnitude of
business nonfiling among businesses registered with IRS, using data
from its operational files to select cases for further investigation.
Based on the results of this work IRS should develop a tax gap
estimate for the impact of business nonfiling insofar as doing so is
cost-effective. (To see the current status of this recommendation
view: [hyperlink, http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-950#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Has
Modernized Its Business Nonfiler Program but Could Benefit from More
Evaluation and Use of Third-Party Data (10-950).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that staff
members who will be using current and additional network tools fully
understand the tools' capabilities. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-968#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Can
Improve Efforts to Address Tax Evasion by Networks of Businesses and
Related Entities (10-968).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should establish an IRS-
wide strategy with goals, which may need to be developed
incrementally, to coordinate and plan ongoing and future efforts to
identify and pursue network tax evasion. The strategy should include:
(1) assessing the effectiveness of network analysis tools, such as yK-
1; (2) determining the feasibility and benefits of increasing access
to existing IRS data, such as scanning additional data from Schedule K-
1, or collecting additional data for use in its network analysis
efforts; (3) putting the development of analytical techniques and
tools that focus on networks as the unit of analysis, such as
GraphQuery, on a specific time schedule; and (4) deciding how network
efforts will be managed across IRS, such as whether a core program
team or management group is needed. (To see the current status of this
recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-68#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Can
Improve Efforts to Address Tax Evasion by Networks of Businesses and
Related Entities (10-968).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should establish formal
mechanisms for front-line users to interact directly with tool
programmers and program analysts to ensure future network analysis
tools, such as GraphQuery, are easy to use and help achieve goals. (To
see the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-968#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Indirect financial benefit;
Management area: Enforcement;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Gap: IRS Can
Improve Efforts to Address Tax Evasion by Networks of Businesses and
Related Entities (10-968).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To enhance IRS's ability to detect noncompliance with mortgage
debt forgiveness provisions, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
should determine if available data (including IRS and third-party
data) would allow IRS to better identify whether the debt being
excluded is for a principal residence. (To see the current status of
this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-997#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Expanded Information Reporting Could Help IRS Address Compliance
Challenges with Forgiven Mortgage Debt (10-997).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To enhance IRS's ability to detect noncompliance with mortgage
debt forgiveness provisions, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
should modify Form 1099-C to require lenders to identify in a more
useable format (check boxes or coding, for example) the specific type
of canceled debt and capture the information in IRS's databases. (To
see the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-997#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Expanded Information Reporting Could Help IRS Address Compliance
Challenges with Forgiven Mortgage Debt (10-997).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To enhance IRS's ability to detect noncompliance with mortgage
debt forgiveness provisions, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
should modify Form 982, Part 1 to segregate the total dollar amount of
forgiven debt by exclusion type and capture the information in IRS's
databases. (To see the current status of this recommendation view:
[hyperlink, http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-997#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Expanded Information Reporting Could Help IRS Address Compliance
Challenges with Forgiven Mortgage Debt (10-997).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To enhance IRS's ability to detect noncompliance with mortgage
debt forgiveness provisions, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
should modify the Form 982 and Form 1099-C so that filers disclose the
address of the secured property for which the debt is being forgiven
and capture the information in IRS's databases. (To see the current
status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-997#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Expanded Information Reporting Could Help IRS Address Compliance
Challenges with Forgiven Mortgage Debt (10-997).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To enhance IRS's ability to detect noncompliance with mortgage
debt forgiveness provisions, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
should use the additional data reported on the revised Form 982 and
Form 1099-C to assess the extent to which taxpayers are compliant. (To
see the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-997#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Expanded Information Reporting Could Help IRS Address Compliance
Challenges with Forgiven Mortgage Debt (10-997).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To provide better information for paid preparers and taxpayers
to determine eligibility for excluding forgiven mortgage debt from
taxable income, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should explore
and implement readily available low-cost options to help clarify the
tax treatment of forgiven debt, including options such as either
sending notices to taxpayers when a lender files a Form 1099-C
indicating a forgiven mortgage and the taxpayer does not file a Form
982 or documenting that the costs of doing so would exceed the
benefits. (To see the current status of this recommendation view:
[hyperlink, http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-997#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Expanded Information Reporting Could Help IRS Address Compliance
Challenges with Forgiven Mortgage Debt (10-997).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To provide better information for paid preparers and taxpayers
to determine eligibility for excluding forgiven mortgage debt from
taxable income, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should explore
and implement readily available low-cost options to help clarify the
tax treatment of forgiven debt, including options such as making IRS's
interactive tool for canceled debt publicly available for the 2011
filing season. (To see the current status of this recommendation view:
[hyperlink, http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-997#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Expanded Information Reporting Could Help IRS Address Compliance
Challenges with Forgiven Mortgage Debt (10-997).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To provide better information for paid preparers and taxpayers
to determine eligibility for excluding forgiven mortgage debt from
taxable income, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should explore
and implement readily available low-cost options to help clarify the
tax treatment of forgiven debt, including options such as using IRS's
telephone software to obtain better information about why, if at all,
taxpayers call IRS with questions about forgiven mortgage debt. (To
see the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-997#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Expanded Information Reporting Could Help IRS Address Compliance
Challenges with Forgiven Mortgage Debt (10-997).
Matter for congressional consideration or recommendation for executive
action: To provide better information for paid preparers and taxpayers
to determine eligibility for excluding forgiven mortgage debt from
taxable income, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should explore
and implement readily available low-cost options to help clarify the
tax treatment of forgiven debt, including options such as working with
software companies to more fully support complex debt cancellation
issues, particularly those related to forgiven mortgage debts. (To see
the current status of this recommendation view: [hyperlink,
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-997#recommendations]);
Potential financial impact: Increase revenue;
Management area: Enforcement and taxpayer services;
Title of report (fiscal year-GAO report number): Tax Administration:
Expanded Information Reporting Could Help IRS Address Compliance
Challenges with Forgiven Mortgage Debt (10-997).
Source: GAO, Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in
Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue, GAO-11-
318SP (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 11, 2011) and GAO, Internal Revenue
Service: Assessment of Budget Justification for Fiscal Year 2011
Identified Opportunities to Enhance Transparency, GAO-10-687R
(Washington, D.C.: May 26, 2010).
[End of table]
[End of Appendix II]
Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contact:
James R. White, (202) 512-9110 or WhiteJ@gao.gov:
In addition to the contact named above, Libby Mixon, Assistant
Director; Mark Abraham; Shea Bader; Amy Bowser; Bill Cordery; Chuck
Fox; Carol Henn; Hannah Hunt; Sairah Ijaz; Shirley Jones; Paul
Middleton; Sabine Paul; Melanie Papasian; Tomas Ramirez, Jr.; Cynthia
Saunders; Steve Sebastian; Tom Short; Joanna Stamatiades; Meredith
Trauner; and Kate Wulff made key contributions to this report.
[End of Appendix III]
Footnotes:
[1] PPACA was enacted on March 23, 2010 and contains various tax and
other provisions that IRS is responsible for administering. Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. No. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119
(March 23, 2010).
[2] GAO, GAO: Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-3SP] (Washington, D.C.: March 2009).
[3] GAO, Internal Revenue Service: Assessment of Budget Justification
for Fiscal Year 2011 Identified Opportunities to Enhance Transparency,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-687R] (Washington,
D.C.: May 26, 2010) and GAO, Opportunities to Reduce Potential
Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance
Revenue, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-318SP]
(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 11, 2011).
[4] GAO, Internal Revenue Service: Assessment of Budget Justification
for Fiscal Year 2011 Identified Opportunities to Enhance Transparency,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-687R] (Washington,
D.C.: May 26, 2010) and GAO, Internal Revenue Service: Review of the
Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Request and Interim Performance Results of
IRS's 2008 Tax Filing Season, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-754] (Washington D.C.: June 3,
2009).
[5] GAO, Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government
Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-318SP] (Washington, D.C. March 1,
2011) and GAO, Real Estate Tax Deduction: Taxpayers Face Challenges in
Determining What Qualifies; Better Information Could Improve
Compliance, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-521]
(Washington, D.C.: May 13, 2009).
[6] PPACA was enacted on March 23, 2010 and contains various tax and
other provisions that IRS is responsible for administering. Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. No. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119
(March 23, 2010).
[7] GAO, Internal Revenue Service: Assessment of Budget Justification
for Fiscal Year 2011 Identified Opportunities to Enhance Transparency,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-687R] (Washington,
D.C.: May 26, 2010) and GAO, Internal Revenue Service: Review of the
Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Request and Interim Performance Results of
IRS's 2008 Tax Filing Season, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-754] (Washington D.C.: June 3,
2009).
[8] GAO, Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government
Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-318SP] (Washington, D.C. March 1,
2011) and GAO, Real Estate Tax Deduction: Taxpayers Face Challenges in
Determining What Qualifies; Better Information Could Improve
Compliance, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GA0-09-521]
(Washington, D.C.: May 13, 2009).
[9] GAO, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/AIMD-00-21.3.1] (Washington,
D.C.; November 1999). GAO, Opportunities to Reduce Potential
Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance
Revenue, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-318SP]
(Washington, D.C.; March 1, 2011).
[10] GAO, Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-3SP] (Washington, D.C.: March 2009).
[11] GAO, Executive Guide: Effectively Implementing the Government
Performance and Results Act, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/GGD-96-118] (Washington, D.C.: June
1996).
[12] GAO, Internal Revenue Service: Review of the Fiscal Year 2010
Budget Request, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-754],
(Washington, D.C.: Jun 3, 2009).
[13] IRS did not have time to estimate costs for new legislative
proposals presented for the first time in the FY 2012 budget request.
[14] GAO, Internal Revenue Service: Assessment of Budget Justification
for Fiscal Year 2011 Identified Opportunities to Enhance Transparency,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-687R] (Washington,
D.C.: May 26, 2010).
[15] GAO, Internal Revenue Service: Review of the Fiscal Year 2010
Budget Request, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-754]
(Washington D.C.: June 3, 2009).
[16] GAO, Internal Revenue Service: Assessment of Budget Justification
for Fiscal Year 2011 Identified Opportunities to Enhance Transparency,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-687R] (Washington,
D.C.: May 26, 2010).
[17] GAO, Internal Revenue Service: Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Request
and Interim Performance Results of IRS's 2008 Tax Filing Season,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-567] (Washington D.C.:
Mar. 13, 2008).
[18] GAO, Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government
Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-318SP] (Washington, D.C. March 1,
2011) and GAO, Real Estate Tax Deduction: Taxpayers Face Challenges in
Determining Related What Qualifies; Better Information Could Improve
Compliance, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GA0-09-521]
(Washington, D.C.: May 13, 2009).
[End of section]
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