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US Treasury Seeks To Reduce Tax Gap

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

27 September 2006

The US Treasury Department on Tuesday unveiled a comprehensive strategy for reducing the tax gap.

In a statement, the Treasury's Office of Tax Policy explained that

"In fiscal year 2005, Federal receipts totaled over $2.2 trillion. More than 95% of net receipts were collected by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) through its administration of the income, transfer and excise tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code."

"The vast majority of these receipts is collected through our voluntary compliance system, under which taxpayers report and pay their taxes with no direct enforcement and minimal interaction with the government. The overall compliance rate achieved under this system is quite high. In 2001, the compliance rate was over 86%, after including late payments and recoveries from IRS enforcement activities."

"Nevertheless, an unacceptably large amount of the tax that should be paid every year is not, requiring compliant taxpayers to make up for the shortfall and giving rise to the 'tax gap'."

The strategy document published yesterday outlines an aggressive strategy for addressing the tax gap. The strategy builds upon the current efforts of the Treasury Department and the IRS to improve compliance.

As part of the deliberations in preparing the Bush Administration's fiscal year 2008 budget request to Congress, the Treasury Department and the IRS are working with the Office of Management and Budget to further develop this strategy to reduce the tax gap.

The more detailed elements of the tax gap strategy are, in part, contingent upon the budget process for fiscal year 2008 and beyond. Accordingly, the Treasury Department and the IRS will provide a more detailed outline of steps they will take to address the tax gap following release of the Administration's fiscal year 2008 budget request early next year.

Four key principles guided the development of the strategy, namely that:

  • Unintentional taxpayer errors and intentional taxpayer evasion should both be addressed;
  • Sources of noncompliance should be targeted with specificity;
  • Enforcement activities should be combined with a commitment to taxpayer service; and
  • Policy positions and compliance proposals should be sensitive to taxpayer rights and maintain an appropriate balance between enforcement activity and imposition of taxpayer burden.

The full text of the Treasury's Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing the Tax Gap can be found in the Tax News Resources section.

 

 






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