Financial Audit: District of Columbia Highway Trust Fund's Fiscal Year 1997 Financial Statements

During the fiscal year 1998 audit, GAO reaffirmed that the District is unable to determine the completeness of motor vehicle tax receipts. GAO's review of the 66 wholesalers in the Office if Tax and Revenue's tracking records showed that no follow-up was performed on 1 wholesaler who did not submit the required returns. GAO also noted that 13 of the wholesalers filed returns but were not licensed to conduct business in the District (six of these wholesalers subsequently obtained a license). Sometimes wholesalers submit an application for a license prior to filing any returns; however, there are delays in processing due to incomplete information provided by the taxpayer. In addition, no followup was performed on another five wholesalers who were licensed during the audit period but never filed returns. The District lacked controls to alert it of the licensed wholesalers who did not submit returns or unlicensed wholesalers who submitted returns. During its fiscal year 1999 audit, GAO reviewed 79 licensed wholesalers. Of the 79, three wholesalers did not file three required returns. OTR properly tracked two of these, but one remained open until GAO brought it to their attention. Follow-up was performed.

During the fiscal year 1998 audit, GAO discovered that District officials continue to accept tax returns that lack supporting schedules. OTR officials informed us that these investigations took place; however, there was no documentation verifying that followup was performed. The audit revealed that District officials are still accepting supporting documentation that does not trace to the schedules. Four of the 67 statistically selected tax returns GAO reviewed lacked the required supporting documentation, and there was no followup that OTR investigated these instances. During fiscal year 1999, GAO reviewed 112 tax returns and found that one return lacked the supporting schedules and another return contained an error. The District's CAFR auditors cited similar problems during 1999. However, GAO did find that follow-up had been performed throughout the year in other instances identified by OTR. GAO will close this recommendation.

During FY1998, the District refunded wholesalers who were previously overcharged on the license fee during the past three years. OTR enforced the $5 annual license fee for motor vehicle fuel licenses during fiscal year 1998.