Tax Administration: Status of Efforts to Curb Motor Fuel Tax Evasion
GGD-92-67
Published: May 12, 1992. Publicly Released: Jun 11, 1992.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed federal motor fuel excise tax compliance and administration, focusing on: (1) the lack of information to determine the petroleum industry's motor fuel excise tax compliance; (2) the effect of recent legislation on compliance; (3) the effectiveness of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) programs in promoting compliance; and (4) state initiatives that could be adapted to bolster federal motor fuel excise tax collections.
Recommendations
Matter for Congressional Consideration
| Matter | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Congress should intensively explore the level of tax evasion with the agencies and the industry; if it is sufficiently high, the point of collection should be changed. | The Federal Highway Administration has reported ranges of estimated gasoline and diesel fuel tax evasion to the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation. These estimates reflected officials' professional judgments concerning probable levels of evasion. Officials' best estimate of gasoline tax evasion levels considerably exceeds the estimated costs industry would bear if the point of taxation were moved to the refinery level. Although Congress moved the point of collection for the diesel fuel excise tax in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, the collection point for gasoline was not changed and was not part of the tax-related debate. |
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Topics
Collection proceduresFuel salesFuel taxesGasolineInvestigations by federal agenciesMonitoringPetroleum industryTax administrationTax evasionTax nonpayment