Tax Administration:
Improving Compliance With Real Estate Tax Deductions
T-GGD-93-46: Published: Sep 21, 1993. Publicly Released: Sep 21, 1993.
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GAO discussed the need to improve taxpayer compliance with real estate tax deduction law, focusing on: (1) nondeductible payments such as user fees; (2) the confusion over what is and is not deductible; and (3) the simplification of tax documents and redirection of enforcement efforts by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). GAO noted that: (1) taxpayers overstated their real estate tax deductions by an estimated $1.5 billion for 1988 which led to a $400-million tax loss in 1992; (2) most taxpayers overstate real estate tax deductions because they include nondeductible user fees on their tax returns; (3) taxpayers are confused over what is deductible tax because tax return instructions and local government tax bills do not distinguish between deductible real estate taxes and nondeductible user fees; (4) IRS has begun implementation of GAO recommendations to improve real estate tax deduction law compliance; (5) the National Association of Counties has proposed federal legislation to require IRS to clarify its tax return instructions and mortgage companies to clarify their annual statements, and provide federal funding to local governments for needed changes in their accounting systems and tax bills; (6) IRS should consider requiring information returns from local governments if improvements are not sufficient, but the costs may outweigh the benefits; and (7) information returns on debt forgiveness and automatic verification of taxpayer identification numbers could improve taxpayer compliance.
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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