Tax Policy:
Value-Added Tax Issues for U.S. Tax Policymakers
GGD-89-125BR: Published: Sep 15, 1989. Publicly Released: Sep 15, 1989.
Additional Materials:
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GAO provided information on the advantages and disadvantages of the value-added tax, focusing on: (1) how the tax would operate; (2) European countries' experiences with value-added tax; and (3) the key issues in deciding whether or not to enact such a tax.
GAO found that: (1) a comprehensive 5-percent value-added tax could raise about $125 billion in revenues annually, while one that exempted food, housing and medical care would raise about $72 billion; (2) most countries use the tax-credit-method value-added tax, which is calculated separately for each purchase or sale and included in the price at each stage of production or distribution; (3) 47 countries have introduced a value-added tax over the past 30 years, several countries have considered proposals, and Canada plans to implement a value-added tax in 1991; (4) the European Economic Community required the value-added tax as a condition for membership as a means of decreasing trade and other economic distortions among its members; (5) although a few industrialized countries did not have the value-added tax system, all but the United States had some type of broad-based national consumption tax; (6) the value-added tax preserved neutrality between capital and labor, since it created no incentive for businesses to substitute one factor for another; and (7) the advantages of the United States adopting a value-added tax would include its potential self-enforcement and lack of bias against savings, while the disadvantages would include regressivity, its use to generate revenue and increase public expenditures, the impact on international trade, the introduction and cost of a consumption tax system at the federal level, administrative and business compliance aspects, and potential conflicts with state and local tax bases.
Feb 18, 2021
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Financial Audit:
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Funds' 2020 and 2019 Financial StatementsGAO-21-284R: Published: Feb 18, 2021. Publicly Released: Feb 18, 2021.
Nov 16, 2020
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Financial Audit:
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection's FY 2020 and FY 2019 Financial StatementsGAO-21-174R: Published: Nov 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 16, 2020. -
Financial Audit:
Federal Housing Finance Agency's FY 2020 and FY 2019 Financial StatementsGAO-21-201R: Published: Nov 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 16, 2020. -
Financial Audit:
Securities and Exchange Commission's FY 2020 and FY 2019 Financial StatementsGAO-21-192R: Published: Nov 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 16, 2020.
Nov 10, 2020
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Financial Audit:
IRS's FY 2020 and FY 2019 Financial StatementsGAO-21-162: Published: Nov 10, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 10, 2020. -
Financial Audit:
Office of Financial Stability's (Troubled Asset Relief Program) FY 2020 and FY 2019 Financial StatementsGAO-21-173R: Published: Nov 10, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 10, 2020.
Nov 9, 2020
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Financial Audit:
Bureau of the Fiscal Service's FY 2020 and FY 2019 Schedules of Federal DebtGAO-21-124: Published: Nov 9, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 9, 2020.
Nov 6, 2020
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FY 2020 Excise Tax:
Agreed-Upon Procedures Related to Distributions to Trust FundsGAO-21-163R: Published: Nov 6, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 6, 2020.
Oct 13, 2020
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DOD Financial Management:
Continued Efforts Needed to Correct Material Weaknesses Identified in Financial Statement AuditsGAO-21-157: Published: Oct 13, 2020. Publicly Released: Oct 13, 2020.
Sep 30, 2020
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Financial Management:
DOD Needs to Implement Comprehensive Plans to Improve Its Systems EnvironmentGAO-20-252: Published: Sep 30, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 30, 2020.
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