Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Gov’t Reports
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CBO: Tax Revenues to ‘Shoot Up’ 30% by 2014
Congressional Budget Office, The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2012 to 2022: [U]nder current law, revenues will rise considerably as a share of GDP—from 16.3% in 2012 to 20.0% in 2014 and 21.0% in 2022. In particular, between 2012 and 2014, revenues in CBO’s baseline shoot up by more than 30%, mostly because of…
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GAO: IRS Needs to Enhance Taxpayer Self-Service Tools
The Government Accountability Office yesterday released Processing Gains, but Taxpayer Assistance Could Be Enhanced by More Self-Service Tools (GAO-12-176): GAO recommends that IRS develop a new refund timeliness performance measure to better reflect current capabilities, create an automated telephone line for taxpayers seeking information about amended returns unless IRS has a convincing costbenefit analysis suggesting…
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Joint Tax Committee Releases Tax Expenditure Estimates for 2011-15
The Joint Committee on Taxation today released Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2011-2015 (JCS-1-12): Tax expenditure analysis can help both policymakers and the public to understand the actual size of government, the uses to which government resources are put, and the tax and economic policy consequences that follow from the implicit or…
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GAO: Guide to Disclosure of Confidential Taxpayer Information
The Government Accountability Office today released A Guide for Screening and Assessing Proposals to Disclose Confidential Tax Information to Specific Parties for Specific Purposes (GAO-12-231SP): The IRS receives a great deal of personal information about individuals and businesses. While taxpayers are required to provide this information to IRS under penalty of fine or imprisonment, confidentiality…
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CBO: Trends in the Distribution of Household Income, 1979-2007
Congressional Budget Office, Trends in the Distribution of Household Income Between 1979 and 2007 (Oct. 2011): After-tax income for the highest-income households grew more than it did for any other group. (After-tax income is income after federal taxes have been deducted and government transfers—which are payments to people through such programs as Social Security and…
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GAO Report on Taxation of Financial Derivatives
The Government Accountability Office yesterday released Financial Derivatives: Disparate Tax Treatment and Information Gaps Create Uncertainty and Potential Abuse (GAO-11-750): Recently, concerns have arisen about the use of certain financial derivatives to avoid or evade tax obligations. As requested, this report (1) identifies and evaluates how financial derivatives can be used to avoid or evade…
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National Taxpayer Advocate Releases Report to Congress
National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson today released (IR-2011-71) her mid-year report to Congress, Fiscal Year 2012 Objectives: The report expresses particular concern about the impact of IRS budget cuts on taxpayer service and tax compliance and about IRS lien filing practices. … Impact of Possible Budget Cuts on Taxpayer Service and Compliance. … “In recent years, the…
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GAO Identifies 29 Deficiencies in IRS’s Internal Controls
The Government Accountability Office yesterday released Management Report: Improvements Are Needed to Enhance the Internal Revenue Service’s Internal Controls and Operating Effectiveness (GAO-11-494R): During our audit of IRS’s fiscal year 2010 financial statements, we identified [15] internal control issues for which we do not already have recommendations outstanding. …These issues increase the risk that IRS may not…
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TIGTA: IRS Is Not Doing Enough to Ensure its Employees Are Paying Their Taxes
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today released Employees Are Provided Sufficient Information on Their Tax Responsibilities, but Additional Actions Are Needed to Detect All Noncompliant Employees (2011-10-047): The IRS redesigned and centralized the Employee Tax Compliance (ETC) Program in Calendar Year 1995 to ensure that employees are held to a high standard of compliance…
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TIGTA: IRS Did Not Follow Law in 38% of Seizures of Taxpayer Property
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration yesterday released Fiscal Year 2011 Review of Compliance With Legal Guidelines When Conducting Seizures of Taxpayers’ Property (2011-30-049): In conducting its statutory review, TIGTA reviewed a random sample of 50 of the 578 seizures conducted from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010, to determine whether the IRS…
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Joint Tax Committee: Description of Tax Portions of Obama’s 2012 Budget
The Joint Committee on Taxation yesterday released Description of Revenue Provisions Contained in the President’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Proposal (JCS-3-11) (647 pages): This document … provides a description and analysis of the revenue provisions modifying the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that are included in the President’s fiscal year 2012 budget proposal, as submitted to…
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IRS Allows Millions in Erroneous Car Deductions to Prisoners, Dead People, Kids
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration yesterday released Millions of Dollars in Questionable Qualified Motor Vehicle Deductions Are Being Allowed (2011-41-037): The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) provides individuals with a Qualified Motor Vehicle (QMV) deduction, which is an additional deduction for State sales tax and excise tax on the purchase of…
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Open CRS Releases Tax Reports
Open CRS has posted these tax reports: Energy Tax Policy: Issues in the 112th Congress (R41769) International Corporate Tax Rate Comparisons and Policy Implications (R41743) Reducing the Budget Deficit: Tax Policy Options (R41641) Should the United States Levy a Value-Added Tax for Deficit Reduction? (R41602)
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Taxpayer ID Theft Has Increased 400% in 2 Years; IRS Apologizes to 3 Victims
The House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform yesterday held a hearing on IRS E-File and Identity Theft. Jim White (Director of Strategic Issues, Government Accountability Office) testified at the hearing, Status of IRS Initiatives to Help Victimized Taxpayers (GAO-11-721T): My testimony today will cover (1) when IRS detects identity theft-based refund and employment fraud,…
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House Holds Hearing Today on Business Tax Reform and Job Creation
The House Ways & Means Committee held a hearing this morning on How Business Tax Reform Can Encourage Job Creation: The hearing will inquire about the potential benefits to companies and workers of lowering marginal tax rates on business income, and the trade-offs that such companies might be willing to make given current fiscal constraints.…
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TIGTA Submits Semiannual Report to Congress
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today submitted its Semiannual Report to Congress: It gives me great pleasure to submit this Semiannual Report to Congress summarizing the accomplishments of the TIGTA for the reporting period of October 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011. This report highlights the most notable audits, investigations, and inspections and…
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GAO Releases Two Tax Reports
The Government Accountability Office has released two tax reports: Taxes and Identity Theft: Status of IRS Initiatives to Help Victimized Taxpayers (GAO-11-674T) Accounting Today Fox Wall Street Journal Tax Refunds: Enhanced Prerefund Compliance Checks Could Yield Significant Benefits (GAO-11-691T) Accounting Today Bloomberg The Hill Wall Street Journal
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GAO: Contractors Receiving $24b in Stimulus Funds Owe $750m in Back Taxes
In conjunction with today’s Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing on Stimulus Contractors Who Cheat on Their Taxes: What Happened?, the Government Accountability Office released Thousands of Recovery Act Contract and Grant Recipients Owe Hundreds of Millions in Federal Taxes (GAO-11-485): At least 3,700 Recovery Act contract and grant recipients—including prime recipients, subrecipients, and vendors—are estimated to owe…
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CBO: Our 2001 Ten-Year Budget Projection Was Off by $11.8 Trillion
The Congressional Budget Office yesterday released Changes in CBO’s Baseline Projections Since January 2001: Each year, the CBO issues baseline projections of federal spending and revenues for the following 10 years. Those projections are not intended as a forecast of future outcomes; rather, they are estimates of spending and revenues under the laws that are…
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Joint Tax Committee Releases IRS Disclosures of Tax Return Information, 2010
The Joint Committee on Taxation today released Disclosure Report for Public Inspection Pursuant to Internal Revenue Code Section 6103(p)(3)(C) for Calendar Year 2010 (JCX-26-11): Section 6103(p)(3)(C) provides that the Secretary of the Treasury shall, within 90 days after the close of each calendar year, furnish to the Joint Committee on Taxation for disclosure to the public a…
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GAO: Improper EITC Payments Rose 37.6% in 2010, to $16.9 Billion
The Government Accountability Office has released Recent Efforts to Address Improper Payments and Remaining Challenges (GAO-11-575T): Federal agencies reported an estimated $125.4 billion in improper payments for fiscal year 2010. The $125.4 billion estimate of improper payments federal agencies reported in fiscal year 2010 was attributable to over 70 programs spread among 20 agencies. Federal agencies’ fiscal year…
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GAO: 224,000 Passport Recipients Failed to Pay $5.8 Billion in Taxes
The Government Accountability Office yesterday released Federal Tax Collection: Potential for Using Passport Issuance to Increase Collection of Unpaid Taxes (GAO-11-272): State issued passports to about 16 million individuals during fiscal year 2008; of these, over 224,000 individuals (over 1%) owed over $5.8 billion in unpaid federal taxes as of September 30, 2008. State is not authorized…
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GAO Releases Two Tax Reports
The Government Accountability Office yesterday released two tax reports: 2011 Tax Filing: IRS Dealt with Challenges to Date but Needs Additional Authority to Verify Compliance (GAO-11-481) Tax Preparer Regulation: IRS Needs a Documented Framework to Achieve Goal of Improving Taxpayer Compliance (GAO-11-336)
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CBO Evaluates VMT (Vehicle Miles Traveled) Tax
The Hill, CBO: Taxing Mileage a ‘Practical Option’ for Revenue Enhancement: The CBO this week released a report that said taxing people based on how many miles they drive is a possible option for raising new revenues and that these taxes could be used to offset the costs of highway maintenance at a time when…
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GAO: IRS’s Lack of Internal Controls Puts Confidential Taxpayer Info at Risk
The Government Accountability Office yesterday released IRS Needs to Enhance Internal Control over Financial Reporting and Taxpayer Data (GAO-11-308): Although IRS made progress in correcting previously reported information security weaknesses, control weaknesses over key financial and tax processing systems continue to jeopardize the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of financial and sensitive taxpayer information. Specifically, IRS did not…