Suchergebnisse

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) program to audit income tax returns through correspondence, focusing on: (1) the number, results, and duration of correspondence audits as well as the characteristics of the audited returns; and (2) processes and requirements that IRS has had for years to govern correspondence audits."

The Internal Revenue Service gets something north of 100 million individual tax returns each year. So how does the IRS decide how to deploy its 6,500 auditors? It counts on the computer programs to flag returns that seems more likely to be understating income. For example, a highly-paid two-earner couple might have income well into … Continue reading The IRS Audit Algorithm and Racial Effects
The post The IRS Audit Algorithm and Racial Effects first appeared on Conversable Economist.

Objectives. Although scholars have recognized that the wealth & power of litigants has substantial influence on litigation outcomes, there has been less recognition of the ability of the wealthy to sway agency policy through litigation. I argue that the wealthy, through lawsuits & the outcomes from the litigation, influence Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits of the wealthy & the less affluent. Methods. I examine IRS state audit rates & use ordinary least squares regression with panel corrected standard errors. Results. I show that wealthy litigants can influence the IRS to decrease audits of the wealthy & increase audits of the less affluent. Conclusions. The wealthy appear to have the ability to influence IRS policy through lawsuits. Litigation can influence agency policy. 2 Tables, 34 References. Adapted from the source document.

Objectives. Although scholars have recognized that the wealth and power of litigants has substantial influence on litigation outcomes, there has been less recognition of the ability of the wealthy to sway agency policy through litigation. I argue that the wealthy, through lawsuits and the outcomes from the litigation, influence Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits of the wealthy and the less affluent. Methods. I examine IRS state audit rates and use ordinary least squares regression with panel corrected standard errors. Results. I show that wealthy litigants can influence the IRS to decrease audits of the wealthy and increase audits of the less affluent. Conclusions. The wealthy appear to have the ability to influence IRS policy through lawsuits. Litigation can influence agency policy.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does various compliance checks to ensure the accuracy of information reported on taxpayers' returns. In recent years, the audit rate--the proportion of tax returns that IRS audits each year--has drawn attention because of a long-term decline in audit rates and the differences in audit rates for lower and higher income individuals. This report (1) describes the changes in audit rates for individual income tax returns overall and for categories, such as major sources (i.e., nonbusiness versus business) and levels of income for fiscal years 1996 through 2000; (2) discusses IRS' reasons and related data explaining the changes in audit rates; and (3) describes what is known about the effects of changes in the audit rates on tax compliance. In comparing fiscal years 1996 and 2000, GAO found that the overall tax audit rate of individuals declined about 70 percent. These rates declined regardless of the individual taxpayer's income level. IRS cited the following three reasons for the decline in audit rates for fiscal years 1996 to 2000: (1) the number of IRS auditors for individual returns declined by more than half due to a decline in total staff and decisions to change staffing priorities to focus on customer service; (2) the remaining auditors were used in other areas, such as assisting taxpayers; and (3) audits took longer due to additional audit requirements, such as more written communications with taxpayers about the status of their audit. To explain the changes in the audit rates by income levels, IRS officials cited increases in the number of high-income tax returns and an audit focus on noncompliance by earned income credit claimants, who are lower income individuals. Finally, neither IRS nor external observers know how the decline in audit rates affects voluntary tax compliance."

The number of large partnerships has more than tripled to 10,099 from tax year 2002 to 2011. Almost two-thirds of large partnerships had more than 1,000 direct and indirect partners, had six or more tiers and/or self reported being in the finance and insurance sector, with many being investment funds. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits few large partnerships. Most audits resulted in no change to the partnership's return and the aggregate change was small. Although internal control standards call for information about effective resource use, IRS has not defined what constitutes a large p

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) fiscal year 2000 financial statements, including the accompanying notes, present fairly, in all material respects, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, IRS' assets, liabilities, net position, net costs, changes in net position, budgetary resources, reconciliation of net costs to budgetary obligations, and custodial activity, for fiscal year 2000. However, misstatements may nevertheless occur in other financial information reported by the IRS as a result of internal control weaknesses. Because of material weaknesses in internal controls, IRS did not maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting or compliance with laws and regulations, and thus did not provide reasonable assurance that losses, misstatements, and noncompliance with laws material in relation to the financial statements would be prevented or detected in an ongoing manner and on a timely basis. GAO's tests of compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations disclosed two instances of noncompliance with laws and regulations that are reportable under U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards or Office of Management and Budget guidance."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO audited the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) fiscal year (FY) 1999 financial statements."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO examined the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) financial statements for the fiscal year (FY) ending September 30, 1998."