Tax Administration:
IRS' Implementation of the Restructuring Act's Taxpayer Protection and Rights Provisions
GGD-00-85: Published: Apr 21, 2000. Publicly Released: May 22, 2000.
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Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO: (1) reviewed the status of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) implementation of the taxpayer protection and rights provisions in title III of its Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998; and (2) determined what, if any, tax administration or other concerns IRS has identified in implementing these provisions.
GAO noted that: (1) IRS reported that, as of January 31, 2000, it had met the legal requirements to implement the taxpayer protection and rights provisions that had reached their effective dates, and was integrating these requirements into its daily work processes, procedures, and interactions with taxpayers; (2) as part of its overall strategy to implement the Restructuring Act, IRS had developed action plans for each of the 72 taxpayer protection and rights provisions showing the steps IRS officials considered necessary to implement the provisions; (3) IRS reported that it had completed these action plans for more than half the provisions and was continuing work to complete the others; (4) in implementing the taxpayer protection and rights provisions, IRS has identified several tax administration concerns; (5) two provisions--one to grant tax relief to innocent spouses and another to increase taxpayers' rights during collection actions--increased IRS' workload far more than anticipated; and (6) two other provisions--one requiring IRS to notify taxpayers before contacting third parties about their tax situation and one which eliminates the difference in interest rates on overpayments and underpayments for any period of mutual indebtedness--proved difficult to put into practice.
Mar 1, 2021
Tax Filing:
Actions Needed to Address Processing Delays and Risks to the 2021 Filing SeasonGAO-21-251: Published: Mar 1, 2021. Publicly Released: Mar 1, 2021.
Jan 14, 2021
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Tax Administration:
Better Coordination Could Improve IRS's Use of Third-Party Information Reporting to Help Reduce the Tax GapGAO-21-102: Published: Dec 15, 2020. Publicly Released: Jan 14, 2021.
Nov 18, 2020
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IRS Reorganization:
Planning Addressed Key Reform Practices, but Goals and Measures for the Plan Have Not Been FinalizedGAO-21-18: Published: Oct 19, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 18, 2020.
Nov 9, 2020
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Opportunity Zones:
Improved Oversight Needed to Evaluate Tax Expenditure PerformanceGAO-21-30: Published: Oct 8, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 9, 2020.
Oct 19, 2020
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Tax Administration:
Opportunities Exist to Improve Oversight of Hospitals' Tax-Exempt StatusGAO-20-679: Published: Sep 17, 2020. Publicly Released: Oct 19, 2020.
Sep 23, 2020
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Taxpayer Service:
IRS Could Improve the Taxpayer Experience by Using Better Service Performance MeasuresGAO-20-656: Published: Sep 23, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 23, 2020.
Aug 31, 2020
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Abusive Tax Schemes:
Offshore Insurance Products and Associated Compliance RisksGAO-20-589: Published: Jul 30, 2020. Publicly Released: Aug 31, 2020.
Jun 29, 2020
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Taxpayer Compliance:
More Income Reporting Needed for Taxpayers Working through Online PlatformsGAO-20-366: Published: May 28, 2020. Publicly Released: Jun 29, 2020.
Jun 16, 2020
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Tax Exempt Organizations:
IRS Increasingly Uses Data in Examination Selection, but Could Further Improve Selection ProcessesGAO-20-454: Published: Jun 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Jun 16, 2020.
May 1, 2020
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Management Report:
Improvements Are Needed to Enhance the Internal Revenue Service's Internal Control over Financial ReportingGAO-20-480R: Published: May 1, 2020. Publicly Released: May 1, 2020.
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