Tax Administration:
IRS' Test of Tax Return Filing by Telephone
GGD-93-91BR: Published: Apr 26, 1993. Publicly Released: Apr 26, 1993.
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Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the test results of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Telefile Program.
GAO found that: (1) the IRS Telefile Program could be a viable alternative to paper return filing; (2) approximately 16.8 million taxpayers filed 1040EZ individual income tax return forms in 1992; (3) of the approximately 126,000 taxpayers who participated in the 1992 test, most viewed the program favorably, 88 percent believed Telefile took less time than paper filing, and 98 percent reported they would use Telefile again; (4) the benefits of the Telefile Program to taxpayers and IRS include faster taxpayer refunds, less taxpayer burden due to reduced computations, greater return accuracy, and less costly return processing; (5) the Telefile processing error rate was 0.16 percent and significantly lower than the error rate for paper filing; and (6) the main barrier to Telefile implementation involved security, since taxpayers' social security and personal identification numbers are displayed on the outside of the tax package and easily accessible to others.
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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