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.
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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.
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Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should assess options for updating Publications 590-A and 590-B to either include more information or direct taxpayers to other resources for IRA owners with investments in unconventional assets. Such information could include: storage requirements for IRA investments in certain precious metals; valuation methods for hard-to-value IRA assets; the Department of Labor's process for granting exemptions to IRA prohibited transactions rules; and IRA investments with the potential to create unrelated business income tax liabilities. (Recommendation 1)
Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service Status: Open
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, building on forthcoming compliance research using new IRA asset data, should evaluate the feasibility of requiring disclosure for high-risk IRA asset types associated with abusive schemes as transactions of interest. (Recommendation 2)
Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service Status: Open
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop resources (such as training materials or job aids) for Small Business/Self-Employed examiners conducting IRA owner audits that explain how IRAs with unconventional assets can generate unrelated business income tax liability, and how examiners can refer cases to unrelated business income experts in IRS for assistance. (Recommendation 3)
Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service Status: Open
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To strengthen efforts to identify and address noncompliance with the EITC, ACTC, and AOTC, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct Refundable Credits Policy and Program Management (RCPPM) to take necessary steps to ensure the reliability of collections data and periodically review that data to (a) compute a collections rate for post-refund enforcement activities and (b) determine what additional analyses would provide useful information about compliance results and costs of post-refund audits and document-matching reviews.
Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service Status: Open
Comments: No executive action taken as of December 2019. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) disagreed with this May 2016 recommendation. IRS raised concerns about the cost of studying collections data for post-refund enforcement activities. GAO recognizes that gathering collections data has costs and the data have limitations, notably that not all recommended taxes are collected. However, use of these data -- once IRS is able to verify their reliability -- could better inform resource allocation decisions and improve the overall efficiency of enforcement efforts. By not taking necessary steps to ensure the reliability of that data and to link them to tax assessments to calculate a collections rate, IRS lacks critical information. Periodic reviews of collections data and analyses could help IRS officials more efficiently allocate limited enforcement resources by providing a more complete picture about compliance results and costs.
