Tax Policy:
Taxation of Single Premium Life Insurance
GGD-88-9BR: Published: Oct 16, 1987. Publicly Released: Oct 16, 1987.
Additional Materials:
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In response to a congressional request, GAO provided information on single-premium life insurance, specifically: (1) its tax-favored investment status; (2) its increased sales relative to other life insurance; and (3) potential changes to its tax-favored status.
GAO found that: (1) single-premium life insurance as a tax-favored investment allows individuals to make investment gains without reporting them as taxable income; (2) the sales of single-premium life insurance increased from $1.0 billion to $4.3 billion, while ordinary premium sales increased from $8.3 billion to $9.4 billion; and (3) this growth in sales of single-premium life insurance was a result of congressional efforts to limit the tax-favored status of annuity contracts and individual retirement accounts. GAO believes that, if Congress should decide to change the tax status of single-premium life insurance, it should either: (1) treat loans from these policies in the same manner as distributions from annuity accounts; or (2) change the definition of life insurance so that single-premium contracts would not qualify for favorable tax treatment if the death benefit goes below a certain level.
Oct 3, 2018
Tax Administration:
Status of IRS Future State VisionGAO-19-108R: Published: Oct 3, 2018. Publicly Released: Oct 3, 2018.
Sep 26, 2018
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Identity Theft:
Strengthening Taxpayer Authentication Efforts Could Help Protect IRS Against FraudstersGAO-18-702T: Published: Sep 26, 2018. Publicly Released: Sep 26, 2018.
Sep 18, 2018
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Low-Income Housing Tax Credit:
Improved Data and Oversight Would Strengthen Cost Assessment and Fraud Risk ManagementGAO-18-637: Published: Sep 18, 2018. Publicly Released: Sep 18, 2018. -
Private School Choice:
Requirements for Students and Donors Participating in State Tax Credit Scholarship ProgramsGAO-18-679: Published: Sep 18, 2018. Publicly Released: Sep 18, 2018.
Sep 10, 2018
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2018 Tax Filing:
IRS Managed Processing Challenges and Enhanced Its Management of Tax Law ChangesGAO-18-471: Published: Sep 10, 2018. Publicly Released: Sep 10, 2018.
Aug 23, 2018
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Tax Fraud and Noncompliance:
IRS Could Further Leverage the Return Review Program to Strengthen Tax EnforcementGAO-18-544: Published: Jul 24, 2018. Publicly Released: Aug 23, 2018.
Jul 31, 2018
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Federal Tax Withholding:
Treasury and IRS Should Document the Roles and Responsibilities for Updating Annual Withholding TablesGAO-18-548: Published: Jul 31, 2018. Publicly Released: Jul 31, 2018.
Jul 23, 2018
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Identity Theft:
IRS Needs to Strengthen Taxpayer Authentication EffortsGAO-18-418: Published: Jun 22, 2018. Publicly Released: Jul 23, 2018.
Jun 28, 2018
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Information Technology:
IRS Needs to Take Additional Actions to Address Significant Risks to Tax ProcessingGAO-18-298: Published: Jun 28, 2018. Publicly Released: Jun 28, 2018.
May 7, 2018
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Management Report:
Improvements Are Needed to Enhance the Internal Revenue Service's Internal Control over Financial ReportingGAO-18-393R: Published: May 7, 2018. Publicly Released: May 7, 2018.
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