Tax Administration: Compliance 2000--A Worthy Idea That Needs Effective Implementation

GAO discussed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Compliance 2000 Initiative to improve voluntary compliance with tax laws. GAO noted that the initiative's goal is to discern the root causes of tax noncompliance and then apply the appropriate tools to improve voluntary compliance in the future. GAO believes that, to successfully implement Compliance 2000 service-wide, IRS: (1) needs to develop a structure for planning, managing, and monitoring Compliance 2000; (2) should align the Taxpayer Compliance Measurement Program, its primary program for measuring noncompliance, with Compliance 2000; and (3) should not use Compliance 2000 to further reduce already low audit rates.