Tax Administration: Standards Adhered to in Issuing Revenue Ruling 90-27
GGD-92-15
Published: Nov 19, 1991. Publicly Released: Dec 23, 1991.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO determined whether: (1) there were any violations of recusal statements, conflict-of-interest laws, or standards of conduct on the part of certain Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials in connection with Revenue Ruling 90-27; and (2) the procedures IRS used in issuing the ruling were proper.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the Chief Counsel, IRS, should, in consultation with the Department of the Treasury's Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) and the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), revise their recusal statements to make the language in them consistent with their ethics agreements. |
The IRS Commissioner's and Chief Counsel's recusal statements no longer list former clients, with whom the official has no continuing financial ties. Also, the language of their recusal statements now reflects their agreements on file with the Office of Government Ethics.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the Chief Counsel, IRS, should, in consultation with the Department of the Treasury's DAEO and OGE, determine the extent to which recusal statements for the Commissioner and Chief Counsel should list former clients where no current financial interest is involved. |
The IRS Commissioner's and Chief Counsel's recusal statements no longer list former clients, with whom the official has no continuing financial ties. Also, the language of their recusal statements now reflects their agreements on file with the Office of Government Ethics.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | For matters of broad applicability, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should, in conjunction with the Chief Counsel, IRS, direct the Chief Counsel staff to seek a range of views and opinions in cases where it is deemed appropriate to contact outside parties for information necessary to issue a revenue ruling. Such views and opinions could be easily obtained by inviting additional people to meetings to discuss proposed rulings or through telephone discussions with other interested parties. |
The IRS Chief Counsel's office has a guideline to seek comments and suggestions from taxpayers and taxpayer groups with respect to proposed publications when such action is justified by special circumstances.
|
Full Report
Public Inquiries
Topics
Brokerage industryConflict of interestsCorporationsEthical conductFinancial institutionsInteragency relationsStocks (securities)Tax administrationTax lawAdministrative law