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 14, 2021
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.
Apr 30, 2020
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Priority Open Recommendations:
Internal Revenue ServiceGAO-20-548PR: Published: Apr 23, 2020. Publicly Released: Apr 30, 2020.
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