Reports & Testimonies

  1. Share with Facebook 
  2. Share with Twitter 
  3. Share with LinkedIn 
  4. Share with mail 

Recommendations Database

GAO’s recommendations database contains report recommendations that still need to be addressed. GAO’s priority recommendations are those that we believe warrant priority attention. We sent letters to the heads of key departments and agencies, urging them to continue focusing on these issues. Below you can search only priority recommendations, or search all recommendations.

Our recommendations help congressional and agency leaders prepare for appropriations and oversight activities, as well as help improve government operations. Moreover, when implemented, some of our priority recommendations can save large amounts of money, help Congress make decisions on major issues, and substantially improve or transform major government programs or agencies, among other benefits.

As of October 25, 2020, there are 4812 open recommendations, of which 473 are priority recommendations. Recommendations remain open until they are designated as Closed-implemented or Closed-not implemented.

Browse or Search Open Recommendations

Search


Have a Question about a Recommendation?

  • For questions about a specific recommendation, contact the person or office listed with the recommendation.
  • For general information about recommendations, contact GAO's Audit Policy and Quality Assurance office at (202) 512-6100 or apqa@gao.gov.

« Back to Results List Sort by   

Results:

Federal Agency: "Department of the Treasury: Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Tax Policy)"

1 publication with a total of 1 open recommendation
Download these results in CSV format or XLSX format.
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: Considerable Progress Made Implementing Business Provisions, but IRS Faces Administrative and Compliance Challenges
GAO-20-103, Feb 25, 2020
Director: Jessica Lucas-Judy
Phone: (202) 512-9110

1 open recommendations
Display
Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary of Tax Policy should update Treasury's internal guidance to ensure that Treasury's regulatory impact analyses include examination of the distributional effects of revenue changes when regulations influence tax liability. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Tax Policy)
Status: Open

Comments: As of August 2020, Treasury disagrees with this recommendation and does not plan to take action on it. Treasury officials said the analyses underlying Treasury's tax regulations have fully complied with the Memorandum of Agreement established with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which focuses on non-revenue effects. We maintain that decisions Treasury and IRS made when developing regulations to implement TCJA could potentially impact tax liability by billions of dollars per year; however, Treasury's internal guidance dictates that these revenue effects should not be included in its economic analyses of the regulations. In some regulations, Treasury has addressed revenue effects in its analyses, but this has not been done consistently. By adjusting its internal guidance to ensure that distributional effects of revenue changes are consistently reflected in its analyses, it would better inform the regulatory decision-making process, while also providing the public with greater transparency.