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Open Recommendations (200 total)

2019 Tax Filing: IRS Successfully Implemented Tax Law Changes but Needs to Improve Service for Taxpayers with Limited-English Proficiency

GAO-20-55
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should reconcile authority and implement procedures for routinely reviewing the English versions of IRS's most commonly used vital tax products and web pages to ensure that information is included in commonly encountered languages about where taxpayers with LEP can obtain the translated content. If such content is not translated, the products and web pages should include information about where taxpayers with LEP can obtain language assistance from IRS. (Recommendation 2)
Open – Partially Addressed
IRS agreed with GAO's January 2020 recommendation and has begun implementing procedures for expanding service to taxpayers with LEP. For example, in 2020, IRS developed a Servicewide Multilingual Improvement Strategy and other LEP initiatives that included the Language Services Executive Advisory Committee. The committee was charged with further expanding available platforms and increasing available languages across multiple channels, including digital tools, telephone assistance, tax forms and publications, written correspondence, and outreach and education. As of March 2023, IRS has taken multiple steps to expand services to taxpayers with LEP, but those steps are incomplete. For example, IRS translated the Form 1040 into Spanish for the 2021 filing season. In addition, IRS translated publication 17 "Your Federal Income Tax (For Individuals)" into multiple languages and added more translated content online in 20 languages. Specifically, IRS translated content on its "Help" webpage under "Other Languages" on topics such as taxpayer rights. IRS also added information on how taxpayers can receive assistance in their language if they are unable to find it online. As of March 2024, if IRS's translated webpage directs taxpayers to an untranslated page, IRS continues to include a translated alert on that page that the information is not available in the taxpayer's language. However, IRS does not provide information on how the taxpayer can obtain assistance in their chosen language. In December 2023, IRS officials told us they had transferred responsibility of web translation to the Taxpayer Experience Office but did not yet have documentation of the change. In addition, IRS has not provided documentation related to reconciling authority and implementing procedures for routinely reviewing the English versions of IRS's most commonly used vital tax products and web pages. Without clear policy and procedures for routinely reviewing English versions of IRS's most commonly used vital tax products and web pages, IRS cannot ensure that taxpayers with LEP can obtain information in their chosen language to get assistance needed to file a return and pay taxes owed.

Opportunity Zones: Census Tract Designations, Investment Activities, and IRS Challenges Ensuring Taxpayer Compliance

GAO-22-104019
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct the Small Business and Self-Employed division to assess the risks that data limitations pose to its Opportunity Zones tax incentive compliance plan and take steps to mitigate those risks. (Recommendation 1)
Open – Partially Addressed
IRS agreed with our recommendation and as of November 2022 had updated its compliance plan to mitigate the risks posed by data limitations. In February 2023, IRS provided us information on other actions being considered to mitigate compliance concerns such as developing further guidance to IRS examiners. IRS also said it was assessing the viability of compiling comprehensive lists of Opportunity Zone funds and investors. Continuing to assess the risks that data limitations pose to its Opportunity Zones compliance plan and taking steps to mitigate those risks, as we recommended, will help IRS identify and address taxpayer noncompliance.

Tax Debt Collection: IRS Needs to Define Field Program Objectives and Assess Risks in Case Selection

GAO-16-787
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service To ensure that Field Collection program case selection processes support IRS's and the Collection program's mission, including applying tax laws with integrity and fairness to all, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop, document, and communicate Field Collection program and case selection objectives, including the role of fairness, in clear and measurable terms sufficient for use in internal control.
Open – Partially Addressed
IRS agreed with the recommendation and described actions being taken to address it. After providing us proposed draft program and case selection objectives for review, in October 2022, IRS provided objectives that officials said were finalized. The objectives appeared to be clear and useful for internal control to manage the program, as IRS documents showed two objectives on fairness and case selection along with automated and manual controls in place to support achieving them. The objectives appeared measurable because IRS had clearly linked performance measures to them. However, it was not clear that IRS had formally adopted the objectives and communicated them. IRS officials said they plan to communicate the objectives by publishing them in the Internal Revenue Manual by April 2023. We will update the status of IRS's implementation of the recommendation after we complete review of any documents IRS provides on further actions taken, as we requested in November 2022.

2019 Tax Filing: IRS Successfully Implemented Tax Law Changes but Needs to Improve Service for Taxpayers with Limited-English Proficiency

GAO-20-55
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should reconcile authority and implement procedures for routinely reviewing its multilingual web pages to effectively prevent, or detect and correct, errors such as incorrect or outdated information. For example, these procedures could call for the divisions to work with the Linguistics, Policy, Tools, & Services (LPTS) section whenever the English version of translated content is updated. (Recommendation 3)
Open – Partially Addressed
IRS agreed with GAO's January 2020 recommendation and has taken some action to prevent outdated multilingual web pages. In July 2020, IRS stated that as part of its Servicewide Multilingual Improvement Strategy, it was developing long- and short-term plans and procedures to establish controls to review, detect, and correct errors or inconsistencies of multilingual web pages. In April 2023, IRS provided documentation of changes it had made to its policy and procedures for updating translated content online. In December 2023, IRS told us it was reorganizing some responsibilities for translations to include the Taxpayer Experience Office. We will continue to follow-up with IRS to better understand the new organization and responsibilities. Until authority and procedures are in place to routinely monitor and update multilingual web content and ensure it is accurate and timely, the IRS operating divisions and LPTS section will be hindered in their ability to ensure taxpayers with LEP have accurate and up-to-date information to fulfill their tax obligations.
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should perform regular monitoring of fluctuations in system downtime charges, such as increases overall or by specific units, to determine what, if any, factors are interrupting CSRs' work. (Recommendation 8)
Open – Partially Addressed
IRS agreed with GAO's January 2020 recommendation and said it would monitor the system downtime reported by the customer service representatives (CSR) in Customer Account Services, but its actions are not complete. As of May 2021, IRS said it had implemented changes to the call center environment and updated the CSR technology platform to further improve system availability. In October 2021, IRS provided information showing improvement in actual system availability and performance. However, as of January 2024, IRS had not demonstrated capability to regularly track timecard charges by CSRs for downtime. IRS officials told us they did not track CSR time charges to identify system issues as they had other types of monitoring systems in place, including the one they implemented in response to our recommendation. However, time charges can reflect issues other than IRS system downtime, such as outages at a CSR's telework location, which may interrupt availability to assist taxpayers. Conducting monitoring of charges over time would better position IRS to identify and resolve any issues that could lead to increased costs and service delays to taxpayers.

Tax Filing: 2021 Performance Underscores Need for IRS to Address Persistent Challenges

GAO-22-104938
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service
Priority Rec.
The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should work with Treasury to develop and implement a modernization plan for "Where's My Refund" that fully addresses taxpayer needs and requirements. (Recommendation 4)
Open – Partially Addressed
IRS agreed with this recommendation. In its March 2022 comments on the report, IRS stated that implementation of this effort will be contingent on available funding. IRS's April 2023 Inflation Reduction Act Strategic Operating Plan contains an initiative to build status tracking tools for taxpayers. In June 2023, IRS stated that this initiative will include updating the current "Where's My Refund" application. In February 2023, IRS officials reported that IRS completed research on user needs and expectations for "Where's My Refund." They found that users expected a more modern interface, were frustrated with the authentication process and inability to use the tool more than one time per day, and desired more information on their refund. IRS officials also reported that, based on the feedback and other information, IRS requested funding to make some enhancements. In March 2023, we received documentation on the research results and recommendations for enhancements and are reviewing this information. In July 2023, IRS officials told us they plan on completing the modernization of "Where's My Refund" by summer 2024 and the modernization of "Where's My Amended Return" by late summer 2024. Some updates included a mobile-friendly version of "Where's My Refund" and, longer term, accessibility through Online Account. IRS was unable to provide information at that time on how it was implementing these changes, such as addressing technical limitations with the current application or developing a new application. We will continue to monitor IRS's proposed plans for implementing this recommendation.

Tax Debt Collection: IRS Needs to Define Field Program Objectives and Assess Risks in Case Selection

GAO-16-787
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service To ensure that Field Collection program case selection processes support IRS's and the Collection program's mission, including applying tax laws with integrity and fairness to all, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop, document, and implement performance measures clearly linked to the Field Collection program and case selection objectives.
Open – Partially Addressed
IRS agreed with the recommendation and outlined planned actions to address it. In October 2022, IRS provided documented objectives that officials said were finalized that included clear links between performance measures and objectives. For example, IRS linked a percentage measure of open cases that are high priority to objectives on fairness and case selection. However, it was not clear that IRS had implemented the performance measures by formally approving and communicating them, along with any target goals for the measures. Also it was not clear that IRS had formally adopted the objectives and communicated them. We will update the status of IRS's implementation of the recommendation after we complete review of any documents IRS provides on further actions taken, as we requested in November 2022.
Internal Revenue Service To ensure that Field Collection program case selection processes support IRS's and the Collection program's mission, including applying tax laws with integrity and fairness to all, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should incorporate program and case selection objectives into existing risk management systems or use other approaches to identify and analyze potential risks to achieving those objectives so that Field Collection can establish risk tolerances and appropriate control procedures to address risks.
Open – Partially Addressed
IRS agreed with the recommendation and outlined planned actions to address it. In October 2022, IRS officials provided documents that demonstrated risk management actions taken based on Field Collection program and case selection objectives that were finalized, according to officials. For example, for Field Collection objectives on fairness and case selection, IRS identified and analyzed the risk of automated case prioritization not functioning as intended and the risk of Field group managers not assigning primarily high-priority cases. These risks could potentially result in Field Collection not assigning work in alignment with business priorities and unfair treatment of compliant taxpayers because of IRS not addressing egregious tax delinquency cases. IRS also established a related control procedure to periodically review and validate automated routing and prioritization rules. IRS also established a related risk tolerance, with a proposed goal to maintain 80 percent of its open cases as high-priority. Additionally, Field Collection established procedures to use its internal risk register to track the Field group manager risk along with the internal controls used to address it and procedures to periodically validate the effectiveness of controls. However, IRS has not yet completed steps to formally adopt and communicate the Field Collection program and case selection objectives that these risk management actions are supposed to support. We will update the status of IRS's implementation of the recommendation after we complete review of any documents IRS provides on further actions taken, as we requested in November 2022.

Tax Filing: 2021 Performance Underscores Need for IRS to Address Persistent Challenges

GAO-22-104938
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service
Priority Rec.
The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should estimate time frames for resolving IRS's correspondence backlog, monitor and update these estimates periodically, and communicate this information to taxpayers and stakeholders. (Recommendation 5)
Open – Partially Addressed
IRS agreed with the recommendation, and officials said IRS would continue with its efforts to manage its correspondence inventory and return it to normal levels. Although it resolved the backlog of 2021 paper tax returns, IRS's inventory of taxpayer correspondence remained high heading into the 2023 filing season. IRS committed to reducing its taxpayer adjustments correspondence inventory to about 1 million by the end of 2022, and assigned additional customer service representatives to process correspondence during the year. However, IRS has not established goals to resolve other areas of its correspondence inventory. In October 2022, IRS stated that it continues to update its "Status of Operations" webpage to provide taxpayers and other stakeholders pertinent information regarding processing time frames. However, this webpage provides limited information on processing time frames. For example, before the 2022 filing season started, IRS reported on its website that it had about 2.3 million unprocessed individual amended returns in its correspondence inventory, and that its current time frame for processing amended returns can be more than 20 weeks. As of July 2023, IRS had updated the volume of amended returns in process and that the processing time frame remained at more than 20 weeks. Further, during the same time period, IRS provided limited information on the status of processing other types of correspondence, such as responses to letters and notices. As of November 2023, IRS said it will update the mission critical operations page and create a new processing times status page on IRS.gov by the start of the 2024 filing season. IRS said it will include the dates of the correspondence it is working on the processing page. IRS needs to clearly communicate estimated timeframes for resolving correspondence so taxpayers know when to reasonably expect a response or refund. Without clear, timely information on IRS's processing timeframes for addressing taxpayer correspondence, taxpayers will continue to call, write, or visit IRS in person to try to obtain this information, and IRS will continue to struggle to meet demands for taxpayer customer service and in processing returns.

Individual Retirement Accounts: IRS Could Better Inform Taxpayers about and Detect Noncompliance Related to Unconventional Assets

GAO-20-210
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service 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)
Open – Partially Addressed
IRS agreed with GAO's January 2020 recommendation and has taken some steps to provide more resources to address four areas where GAO identified limited information was available for IRA owners with investments in unconventional assets. For the prohibited transaction rule, IRS updated Publications 590-A in March 2021 and 590-B in May 2021 with information and links for Department of Labor procedures for granting exemptions to IRA prohibited transactions. However, IRS said that the Department of Labor has the regulatory authority to take further action to address GAO's recommendation for information to help IRA owners understand the rule. As of January 2024, IRS did not provide a plan to work with Labor on providing more information to help IRA owners avoid prohibited transactions. For precious metals, IRS updated its IRA investment frequently asked questions specifying that home storage is not allowed for precious metals held in an IRA. For valuation methods for hard-to-value IRA assets, the Department of the Treasury and IRS were planning to issue additional proposed regulations on IRAs as of January 2024. IRS officials told GAO that these new regulations would address how to determine the value for certain categories of non-publicly-traded unconventional assets. For IRA investments with the potential to create unrelated business income tax liabilities, as of January 2024, GAO is reviewing what actions, if any, IRS has taken to provide more information for IRA owners. Additional information and resources could help IRA owners better understand how IRA investment decisions and certain types of unconventional assets can increase their risks for noncompliance. Misunderstanding the rules governing IRAs could result in increased tax liability for taxpayers making unintentional errors and jeopardize their retirement savings.
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