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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.

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Results:

Subject Term: "Tax forms"

2 publications with a total of 9 open recommendations including 2 priority recommendations
Download these results in CSV format or XLSX format.
Identity Theft: IRS Needs to Better Assess the Risks of Refund Fraud on Business-Related Returns
GAO-20-174, Jan 30, 2020
Director: James R. McTigue, Jr.
Phone: (202) 512-9110

6 open recommendations
including 2 priority recommendations
Display
Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should designate a dedicated entity to provide oversight of agency-wide efforts to detect, prevent, and resolve business IDT, consistent with leading practices. This may involve designating one business unit as a lead entity or leveraging cooperative relationships between business units to establish a business IDT leadership team. This entity should have defined responsibilities and authority for managing fraud risk. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: In January 2020, IRS agreed to designate a dedicated entity to provide oversight of agency-wide business IDT efforts and stated that it will determine the appropriate oversight structure and scope of authority.
Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop a fraud risk profile for business IDT that aligns with leading practices. This should include (1) identifying inherent fraud risks of business IDT, (2) assessing the likelihood and impact of inherent fraud risks, (3) determining fraud risk tolerance, and (4) examining the suitability of existing fraud controls. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: In January 2020, IRS agreed but did not provide details on the actions it plans to take to address the recommendation.
Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop, document, and implement a strategy for addressing fraud risks that will be identified in its fraud risk profile. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: In January 2020, IRS agreed but did not provide details on the actions it plans to take to address the recommendation.
Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that IRS collects additional data on business IDT by identifying and implementing new fraud filters consistent with its fraud risk profile. This should include prioritizing IDT filters for tax forms determined to be most at risk based on an analysis of risk tolerances. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: In January 2020, IRS agreed but did not provide details on the actions it plans to take to address the recommendation.
Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should identify and implement methods to address delays in resolving business IDT cases due to correspondence-based authentication. This could involve using different methods for taxpayer authentication based on the risk level of the return. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agreed with the recommendation. In January 2020, IRS stated that it will complete an analysis of other authentication methods.
Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should establish customer service-oriented performance goals for resolving business IDT cases. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS neither agreed nor disagreed with our recommendation to establish customer service-oriented performance goals for resolving business identity theft cases. In January 2020, IRS stated that it will review its customer service-oriented performance goals and modify them, as warranted, to address the resolution of business identity theft cases. Doing so would meet the intent of our recommendation.
Individual Retirement Accounts: IRS Could Better Inform Taxpayers about and Detect Noncompliance Related to Unconventional Assets
GAO-20-210, Jan 27, 2020
Director: Mctigue, James R Jr
Phone: (202) 512-9110

3 open recommendations
Display
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.