KEPORTS ON TAX ADMINISTRATION TITLE Alsatious That TS Harasse! Missi ippi Civi' Rights DATE 1/27/74 IRS Can Laptove Its Frogta is To collect Taxes Chheld 2/21/76 I pact On Trade 1 changes In Taxation of U.S. Citizens 2/1/78 An Analysis Of IRS' Proposed Tax Administration System: 3/1/78 Addicional Comments On Privacy Implications Gt KS 3/20778 Better Management Needed In Exchanging Federal And State 5/22/78 Further Simplification Of The Tax Forms And Instructions 7/5/78 Revenue Estimates Under Various Methods of Taxing 7/27/78 IRS Seizure Of Taxpayer Property: Eftective But Not 7/31/78 Uniformally Applied (GGD-78-42) Additional IRS Actions Needed To Make Sure That Individuals Pay The Correct Social Security Tax (GGD-78-70) 8/15/78 Changes Needed In The Tax Laws Governing The Exclusion 10/31/78 REPORTS ON TAX ADMINISTRATION TITLE DATE Administration of the Federal Highway Use Tax By the Appropriations Committees Not Advised on Reprogramming of Funds by the Internal Revenix Service, B-133373 5/15/72 5/1/73 Collection of Taxpayers' Delinquent Accounts By the 3/9/73 What Is Being Done About Individuals Who Fail To File a 3/20/75 Mandatory Tax Withholding Recrimended for Agricultural 3/26/75 Telephone Assistance to Taxpayers Can Be Improved, 6/10/75 Need to Revize Tax Deposit Systur on alcohol and tobacco 8/1/75 Proposed Changes in Estate Taxation, GGD-76-1, B-137762 10/20/75 A Case For Providing Pay As You Go Privileges To 11/19/75 No Apparent Need to Regulate Commercial Preparers of 12/8/75 Occupational Taxes On the Alcohol Industry Should Be 1/16/76 Assistance to Taxpayers In Filing Federal Income Tax 4/1/76 Audit of Fiduciary Income Tax Returns By the Internal 4/15/76 Use of Jeopardy and Termination Assessments By the 7/16/76 How the Internal Revenue Service Selects Individual 11/5/76 Sate carding Taxpay Intormation A Evaluation Actions Being Taken to Prevent Refundable Payments of 2/1/77 Simplification of the Tax Form 1040A, GGD-77-26, 2/9/77 Extending the Tax Assessment Period Why, How Often, and What Improvements Can Be Made, GGD-76-103, B-137762 3/28/77 Alcohol and Tobacco Excise Taxes: Laws and Audits Need 4/8/77 Nonfiling of Employment Tax Returns by Tax Exempt 4/20/77 Use of 100-Percent Penalty Assessments by the Internal 513177 IRS Security Program Requires Improvements to Protect 7/11/77 Need to Amend the Internal Revenue Code to Extend 7/12/77 IKS Procedures for Providing Taxpayers With Refunds Not 8/4/77 Need to Amend the Social Security Act to Make the 8/8/77 Letter to Representatives Moss an! Ruse about IRS' 3/18/77 Internal Revenue Service's Controls Over The Use of Confidential Informants. Receur improvemeals Nit dequate, GGD-77-46, B-137762 9/1/77 Letter to Commissioner of Internal Revenue Addressing 11/9/77 Repetitive IRS Audits of Taxpayers Are Justified, 11/18/77 Tax Treatment of Employees and Self-Employed Per sons by 11/21/77 the Internal Revenue Service: Problems and Solutions, GGD-77-88, B-137762 Inequities in the Federal Withholding Tax System, 12/2/77 Chairman RANGEL. The General Accounting Office, maybe we ought to have their testimony submitted for the record here. Mr. Anderson, it is good to see you. We have the complete copy of your rather lengthy statement, and the full statement will appear in the record, and it will be helpful to us if you could summarize it. STATEMENT OF WILLIAM J. ANDERSON, DIRECTOR, GENERAL GOVERNMENT DIVISION, GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE, ACCOMPANIED BY THOMAS VENEZIA, AUDIT MANAGER, CHICAGO REGIONAL OFFICE, AND THEODORE C. GEARHART, GROUP DIRECTOR, GENERAL GOVERNMENT DIVISION Mr. ANDERSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I came prepared to do so. I would like to start off introducing the gentlemen at the table. To my right, is Tom Venezia of the Chicago office, an expert in the taxpayer rights area. To my left is Theodore Gearhart, Group Director of our Audit Staff. He is very knowledgable in the collections area and has some insights as to what IRS does regarding seizures. I have about 5 minutes' worth here, sir, I would like to read. The testimony already presented obviously presents markedly different views of how IRS treats taxpayers. There has been considerable anecdotal comment of specific instances of where IRS has been alleged to have acted improperly in dealing with certain individuals. We cannot confirm or deny the truthfulness of these specific allegations, but we can tell you that after looking closely at virtually all aspects of IRS's activities for a number of years, we are convinced that improper behavior by IRS personnel would be the exception rather than the rule. Let me cite some of the areas we have looked at and in which we concluded that overall, IRS was fairly treating taxpayers. We looked at IRS seizures of taxpayers' property, IRS practices regarding the obtaining of waivers to extend the statutory audit period, the agency's use of jeopardy and termination assessments, how IRS selects individual income tax returns for audit, repetitive audits of taxpayers, allegations that IRS harassed civil rights activists in Mississippi, and taxpayer satisfaction with IRS handling of problem inquiries. These are just a sampling of various audit assignments we have done which provide us with insights into the issue of how IRS treats taxpayers. I agree with the thrust of Commissioner Egger's statement that overall, IRS has a set of policies and procedures that are geared to insure to the extent possible that taxpayers are treated fairly and equitably. I also concur with his observation that isolated incidents of improper behavior on the part of IRS employees are probably unavoidable, given first, the number of employees, 40,000 or so, who come in contact with the public; and second, the large number of such contacts in any one year. Some of these contacts are obviously more adversarial and confrontational than others, and even these are very large in number, |