The Tax Gap
T-GGD-88-22: Published: Mar 31, 1988. Publicly Released: Mar 31, 1988.
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GAO discussed the gap between the amount of income taxes that individuals and businesses owed and the amount that they voluntarily paid. GAO noted that the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) most recent estimate showed: (1) a tax gap of $84.9 billion for tax year 1987, with individuals owing $63.5 billion, large and medium corporations owing about $16 billion, and small corporations owing about $5 billion; and (2) unreported income for individuals totalling $48.3 billion. GAO also found that the most recent IRS tax gap estimate: (1) relied on existing data, some of which was old; (2) assumed that compliance rates would remain constant; (3) included taxes that IRS examiners typically recommended but did not assess after successful appeals; (4) excluded any estimate of illegal source income; and (5) included some types of taxable income which were very difficult to accurately estimate. GAO believes that IRS should take additional steps to close the tax gap, including: (1) establishing a business information returns program; (2) consistently applying tip income detection methods; and (3) implementing a district-level program to monitor civil actions on closed criminal cases.
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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