Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) the number and characteristics of self-employed taxpayers who receive social security credit for self-employment earnings when they are delinquent in paying the self-employment taxes on those earnings; (2) why self-employed taxpayers who have not paid their self-employment taxes are allowed to receive social security credit; and...

This is a compilation of reports, testimonies, correspondences, and other products released in November 1998. Highlights include: (1) Internal Revenue Service: Physical Security Over Taxpayer Receipts and Data Needs Improvement (Page 23); (2) Year 2000 Computing Crisis: A Testing Guide (Page 28); (3) U.S. Postal Service: Development and Inventory of New Products (Page 7); (4) Coast Guard's Acquisi...

Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the fee structure and methodology used by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in developing user fees, focusing on whether the proposed fees reflect IRS actual costs. GAO noted that: (1) IRS has proposed flat fees for installment agreements for taxpayers with smaller balances and those who pay their agreements off quickly; (2) taxpayers with agree...

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) processes for handling undeliverable mail, focusing on the: (1) amount of and reasons for undeliverable mail; and (2) impact of undeliverable mail on taxpayers and IRS.GAO found that: (1) IRS estimates that it had about 6.5 million pieces of undeliverable mail in 1986 and about 15 million pieces in 1992; (2)...

GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Tax Systems Modernization (TSM) implementation plan, focusing on: (1) human resource planning for TSM; (2) strategies for meeting the human resource needs of the new IRS environment; and (3) IRS experience in implementing the Automated Underreporter (AUR) project.GAO found that: (1) although IRS has identified how it plans to use human resources in...

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) handling of taxpayer correspondence.GAO found that: (1) IRS has made progress in correcting its correspondence problems by adopting standards for quality and timeliness and by expanding quality reviews of outgoing correspondence; (2) a review at two IRS service centers showed that 15 percent of the responses to...

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the effectiveness of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) enforcement program, focusing on recent changes that shifted resources from reviewing plan designs to examining plan activities.GAO found that: (1) in recent years, IRS spent most ERISA enforcement resources on reviewing and approving...

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Automated Collection System (ACS), focusing on ACS call sites' effectiveness in calling and providing assistance to persons who owed taxes.GAO found that: (1) during fiscal year (FY) 1990, the call sites collected about $2.6 billion in back taxes and assessed another $1.6 billion to be collected later; (2) altho...

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO: (1) evaluated the effects of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Refund Offset Program on the filing behavior of guaranteed student loan defaulters; and (2) compared the program's estimated benefits resulting from increased debt collections with the program's estimated costs.GAO found that: (1) offsetting refunds for the nonpayment of student loan debts i...

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) efforts to improve its efficiency and managerial accountability, and the quality of its services, focusing on steps IRS took after a 1988 GAO management review of IRS.GAO found that: (1) IRS has taken steps to establish a leadership framework that will enable it to improve its management direction and oversight;...