Tax Administration:
Data on the Tax Compliance of Sweatshops
GGD-94-210FS: Published: Sep 23, 1994. Publicly Released: Nov 1, 1994.
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Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) and two states' efforts to enforce garment and restaurant industry compliance with federal and state tax laws.
GAO found that: (1) many sweatshops do not comply with one or more elements of federal or state tax laws; (2) of the 94 garment and restaurant sweatshops reviewed, 84 were penalized for filing returns or paying taxes late in one or more tax years between 1990 and 1993; (3) as of mid-1994, 30 sweatshops still owed tax liabilities of $492,000; (4) comparable tax data do not exist to determine whether other types of businesses have better compliance records; (5) although IRS identifies most sweatshops' tax liabilities and noncompliance through audits, it increasingly relies on computer matching because of limited resources; (6) IRS and the two states lack accurate tax data on sweatshops to focus their enforcement efforts on pursuing unpaid income taxes; (7) IRS and the two states stated that they apply their limited enforcement resources to industries that have larger tax debts; (8) the two states have focused their enforcement efforts on labor law violations rather than tax law violations; (9) IRS enforcement efforts included developing a national audit program for the garment industry, hiring a garment manufacturing specialist to coordinate its enforcement efforts, and organizing industry groups to address tax noncompliance; (10) the Department of Labor and the two states favor working with IRS on joint compliance projects; and (11) although joint efforts have the potential for improving compliance with all laws, the federal tax code restricts IRS ability to share tax data in joint efforts.
Jan 30, 2018
Tax Fraud and Noncompliance:
IRS Can Strengthen Pre-refund Verification and Explore More UsesGAO-18-224: Published: Jan 30, 2018. Publicly Released: Jan 30, 2018.
Dec 20, 2017
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Tax Information Returns:
Shared Service Centers Generally Transmitted Federal Wage and Tax Data on Time for Tax Year 2016GAO-18-90R: Published: Nov 20, 2017. Publicly Released: Dec 20, 2017.
Dec 18, 2017
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Sales Taxes:
States Could Gain Revenue from Expanded Authority, but Businesses Are Likely to Experience Compliance CostsGAO-18-114: Published: Nov 16, 2017. Publicly Released: Dec 18, 2017.
Nov 30, 2017
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Tax Gap:
IRS Needs Specific Goals and Strategies for Improving ComplianceGAO-18-39: Published: Oct 31, 2017. Publicly Released: Nov 30, 2017.
Nov 28, 2017
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Identity Theft:
Improved Collaboration Could Increase Success of IRS Initiatives to Prevent Refund FraudGAO-18-20: Published: Nov 28, 2017. Publicly Released: Nov 28, 2017.
Sep 6, 2017
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Affordable Care Act:
IRS Should Mitigate Limitations of Data to Be Used for the Age and Gender Adjustment for the Tax on High-cost Health PlansGAO-17-661: Published: Sep 6, 2017. Publicly Released: Sep 6, 2017.
May 18, 2017
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Employment Taxes:
Timely Use of National Research Program Results Would Help IRS Improve Compliance and Tax Gap EstimatesGAO-17-371: Published: Apr 18, 2017. Publicly Released: May 18, 2017.
May 17, 2017
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Management Report:
Improvements Are Needed to Enhance the Internal Revenue Service's Internal Control over Financial ReportingGAO-17-454R: Published: May 17, 2017. Publicly Released: May 17, 2017.
Apr 27, 2017
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IRS Return Selection:
Improved Planning, Internal Controls, and Data Would Enhance Large Business Division Efforts to Implement New Compliance ApproachGAO-17-324: Published: Mar 28, 2017. Publicly Released: Apr 27, 2017.
Apr 26, 2017
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2017 Filing Season:
New Wage Verification Process Holds Promise but IRS Faced Implementation ChallengesGAO-17-525T: Published: Apr 26, 2017. Publicly Released: Apr 26, 2017.
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