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Open Recommendations (96 total)

COVID-19: Current and Future Federal Preparedness Requires Fixes to Improve Health Data and Address Improper Payments

GAO-22-105397
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Treasury The Secretary of the Treasury should document policies and procedures for providing information to the Office of Management and Budget to better enable it to annually update the Compliance Supplement, that include steps for (1) establishing management's expectations of staff competence for key roles (e.g., relevant knowledge, skills and abilities) and providing ongoing training, and (2) agency officials proactively involving internal stakeholders (e.g., the inspector general, general counsel and chief financial officer) and external stakeholders (e.g., the audit community) when developing audit procedures, prior to submitting drafts to the Office of Management and Budget, in order to ensure the guidance meets users' needs. See the Single Audit Compliance Supplement enclosure. (Recommendation 6)
Open
To address this recommendation, Treasury provided its Federal Financial Assistance Award Policy and related Guide. While the documents addressed part of our recommendation, we had further questions about ongoing training efforts for staff who are responsible for providing updates to the Compliance Supplement and sent follow-up emails to obtain additional information. As of April 16, 2024, Treasury has not replied to our follow up questions. We will continue to monitor Treasury's steps to address this recommendation.

Emergency Rental Assistance: Treasury's Oversight is Limited by Incomplete Data and Risk Assessment

GAO-23-105410
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Treasury The Chief of the Office of Recovery Programs should expediently publish complete ERA program data, including all required disaggregated performance measures required by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, for all applicable quarters from program inception through the end of the award performance period. Such reporting should include information necessary for determining data quality, such as the rate of missing or erroneous data for key data elements. (Recommendation 2)
Open
As of April 16, 2024, Treasury had not taken action to address this recommendation.

Cloud Computing: Agencies Need to Incorporate Key Practices to Ensure Effective Performance

GAO-16-325
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Treasury To help ensure continued progress in the implementation of effective cloud computing SLAs, the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs should direct appropriate officials to develop SLA guidance and ensure key practices are fully incorporated as the contract and associated SLAs expire.
Open
In June 2022, an official from the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) reported that the department intended to incorporate cloud contracting best practices into the next update of the department's Acquisition Procedures. However, the department did not have an estimate on when guidance would be finalized. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Federal Spending Transparency: Opportunities Exist to Improve COVID-19 and Other Grant Subaward Data on USAspending.gov

GAO-24-106237
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Treasury The Secretary of the Treasury should disclose additional subaward data quality limitations on the USAspending.gov pages where users search for or view subaward data (Recommendation 3).
Open
Treasury concurred with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Financial Derivatives: Disparate Tax Treatment and Information Gaps Create Uncertainty and Potential Abuse

GAO-11-750
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Treasury To better ensure that economically similar outcomes are taxed similarly and minimize opportunities for abuse, the Secretary of the Treasury should undertake a study that compares the current approach to alternative approaches for the taxation of financial derivatives. To determine if changes would be beneficial, such a study should weigh the tradeoffs to IRS and taxpayers that each alternative presents, including simplicity, administrability, and economic efficiency.
Open
Treasury disagreed with this recommendation based on the fact that many outside studies already exist and IRS did not comment. The Inflation Reduction Act enacted in August 2022 did not include any requirements that Treasury study alternative approaches for the taxation of financial derivatives. However, members of Congress in the 118th have discussed a mark-to-market tax system and the taxation of financial derivatives. GAO continues to maintain that further study is needed in coordination with IRS and will continue to monitor proposals for such a study.

Foreign Investment in the U.S.: Efforts to Mitigate National Security Risks Can Be Strengthened

GAO-24-107358
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Treasury The Secretary of the Treasury should, once the targeted staffing increase is completed, analyze its CFIUS monitoring and enforcement staffing in accordance with federal workforce planning guidance, to determine the extent to which the targeted increase enables Treasury to achieve its documented objectives. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

COVID-19: Current and Future Federal Preparedness Requires Fixes to Improve Health Data and Address Improper Payments

GAO-22-105397
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Treasury The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, should enhance collaboration among departmental components for refundable tax credit communication and outreach efforts by including relevant participants and clearly defining participant outcomes, roles, and responsibilities. See the Advance Child Tax Credit and Economic Impact Payments enclosure. (Recommendation 13)
Open
In March 2024, Treasury officials responded that the Department does not have any updates to this recommendation.

Emergency Rental Assistance: Treasury's Oversight is Limited by Incomplete Data and Risk Assessment

GAO-23-105410
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Treasury The Chief of the Office of Recovery Programs should complete a detailed assessment of the ERA program's susceptibility to improper payments, such as a quantitative analysis that incorporates grantee payment data and other relevant data sources. (Recommendation 3)
Open
As of April 16, 2024, Treasury had not taken sufficient action to address this recommendation.

Telecommunications: Agencies Need Better Controls to Achieve Significant Savings on Mobile Devices and Services

GAO-15-431
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Treasury To help the department effectively manage spending on mobile devices and services, the Secretary of the Treasury should ensure an inventory of mobile devices and services is established department-wide (i.e., all components' devices and associated services are accounted for).
Open
As of January 2024, the Department of the Treasury had not implemented the recommendation. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to implement this recommendation.

Cybersecurity: Federal Agencies Made Progress, but Need to Fully Implement Incident Response Requirements

GAO-24-105658
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Treasury The Secretary of the Treasury should ensure that the agency fully implements all event logging requirements as directed by OMB guidance. (Recommendation 13)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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