What GAO Found The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issues shutdown guidance for agencies in Circular A-11. Of four selected agency components, three—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the International Trade Administration (ITA)—operated in fiscal year (FY) 2019 under contingency plans that included most of the key information elements spec

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) used data to select almost 70 percent of its examinations of Form 990 returns in fiscal year 2019. Almost half of these examinations were selected using models that score returns for potential noncompliance. Of the returns examined that were selected using the model, 87 percent resulted in a change to the return, indicating that IRS identified noncompliance. GAO

During its audit of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) fiscal years 2019 and 2018 financial statements, GAO identified new deficiencies in information system security controls that along with unresolved control deficiencies from prior audits, collectively represent a significant deficiency in the agency's internal control over financial reporting systems. Specifically, GAO identified 11 new def

During its audit of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) fiscal years 2019 and 2018 financial statements, GAO identified new control deficiencies in IRS's internal control over financial reporting that although not considered a material weakness or significant deficiency, nonetheless warrant IRS management's attention. These control deficiencies concern IRS's (1) transporting taxpayer receipts, (

Five out of six agencies used their improper payment estimation results to identify the root causes for the eight programs GAO reviewed. However, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) used 2006 through 2008 taxpayer data to identify root causes of fiscal year 2018 Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) improper payments. Without timely data on the true root causes of EITC improper payments, Treasury

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has made considerable progress issuing guidance to taxpayers for Public Law 115-97—commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA)—but has additional work remaining to issue all planned guidance, as shown in the figure. To improve efficiency of TCJA guidance development, IRS internally collaborated earlier and more frequently than during more rout

In accordance with the authority conferred by the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, as amended, GAO annually audits IRS's financial statements to determine whether (1) the financial statements are fairly presented and (2) IRS management maintained effective internal control over financial reporting. GAO also tests IRS's compliance with selected provisions of applicable laws, regulations, cont

The Department of Energy's (DOE) payments in lieu of taxes (PILT)—payments made to some local communities that host DOE sites—vary considerably across the sites and have generally increased over time. Communities at 11 DOE sites received PILT payments in fiscal year 2017 (the most recent fiscal year for which complete data were available), totaling approximately $23 million (see figure). Paym

During its audit of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) fiscal years 2018 and 2017 financial statements, GAO identified new deficiencies in information system security controls that along with unresolved control deficiencies from prior audits collectively represent a significant deficiency in the agency's internal control over financial reporting systems. Specifically, GAO identified 14 new defi

The Department of Labor (DOL) has a process to grant administrative exemptions for individual retirement account (IRA) transactions that would otherwise be prohibited by law, such as an IRA buying investment property from the IRA owner. DOL evaluates applications using statutory criteria and follows administrative procedures codified in regulations. Applications for proposed transactions that are