weekly and monthly product listings, called the Weekly Update and the Update to the Guide to CRS Products. Tax products in the monthly Update are listed under the heading Taxation. A tailored checklist of current CRS products on taxation is also available. The CRS SDI Service lists the latest published literature, Government and think-tank publications, and CRS products, and is issued weekly. Subscribers can receive a tailored listing of literature under the heading Taxation and can also easily order the items listed. Requests from congressional offices may be initiated by personal visit, phone call, letter, or electronic mail system. Letters should be addressed to: Joseph E. Ross, Director The Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 20540 Telephone numbers of general interest include (area code 202): General inquiries (public) General inquiries (Congressional) ...... 707-5522 707-5700 Requests for specific CRS products (a product number is needed) 707-7132 Ready reference questions (CRS Hotline) 707-7100 CRS TAX PRODUCTS ISSUED JANUARY 1 THROUGH APRIL 2, 1993 Social Security: President Clinton's Proposal to Increase Taxation of Benefits: issue brief, by Geoffrey C. Kollman, updated regularly (IB93044) Earned Income Tax Credit: Should it be Increased to End Poverty for the Working Family: issue brief, by James R. Storey, updated regularly ([B93043) Gasoline Excise Tax: Economic Impacts of an Increase: issue brief, by Bernard A. Gelb and Salvatore Lazzari, updated regularly (IB93028) Health Care Reform: Tax System Approaches: issue brief, by Mark Merlis and Beth C. Fuchs, updated regularly (IB93002) Tax Treaties: the Legislative Override Problem, by Harry G. Gourevitch, Mar. 25, 1993, 15 p. (93-353 S) Taxing Social Security Benefits: a Fact Sheet, by Geoffrey Kollman, Mar. 23, 1993, 2 p. (93-336 EPW) Disparate Impacts of Federal and State Highway Taxes on Alternative Motor Fuels, by David E. Gushee and Salvatore Lazzari, Mar. 12, 1993, 17 p. (93-330 E) Small Business Tax Subsidy Proposals, by Jane G. Gravelle, Mar. 15, 1993, 18 p. (93-316-S) Implementing SO2 Allowance Trading: Implications of Transaction Costs and Taxes, by Larry B. Parker and Donald W. Kiefer, Mar. 12, 1993, 8 p. (93-313 ENR) Household Employees, by Marie B. Morris, Mar. 8, 1993, 5 p. (93–297 A) Constitutionality of Limiting the Deductibility of Tobacco Advertising, by Henry Cohen, Mar. 8, 1993, 6 p. (93-288 A) "Family Economic Income", Taxable Income, and the Rental Value of Homes, by Jack Taylor, Mar. 2, 1993, 2 p. (93–273 E) Employer Education Assistance: Current Tax Status, by Bob Lyke, Feb. 23, 1993, 2 p. (93-249 EPW) Macroeconomic Effects of Increases in the Gasoline Tax, by Brian W. Cashell and Salvatore Lazzari, Feb. 10, 1993, 9 p. (93–213 E) Incremental Investment Credits, by Jane G. Gravelle, Feb. 10, 1993, 29 p. (93–209 S) Gasoline Demand, U.S. Fuel Economy, and a Gasoline Tax, by Lawrence C. Kumins, Feb. 10, 1993, 12 p. (93–187 ENR) Mandatory Income Tax Withholding From Pension Distributions, by James R. Storey, Feb. 1, 1993, 5 p. (93–120 EPW) Can Tax Policy Improve Economic Competitiveness?, by David L. Brumbaugh, Jan. 22, 1993, 4 p. (93-80 E) Taxpayer Rights in Dealing with the IRS about Income Taxes, by Marie B. Morris, Jan. 13, 1993, 16 p. (93–77 A) Marginal Tax Rates: What are They? How Significant are They?, by Gregg A. Esenwein and Donald W. Kiefer, Jan. 15, 1993, 26 p. (93–64 Š) A Tax on Consumed Income, by Gregg Esenwein, Jan. 13, 1993, 11 p. (93–25 E) The Earned Income Tax Credit: a Fact Sheet, by James R. Storey, Jan. 8, 1993, 2 p. (93-25 EPW) Energy Tax Subsidies: Biomass vs. Oil and Gas, by Salvatore Lazzari, Jan. 5, 1993, 15 p. (93-19 E) Special Tax Rules for Members of Congress, by Robert B. Burdette, Revised Dec. 28, 1992, 26 p. (93-18 A) Investment Tax Credit: Using Macroeconomic Models to Assess Short Run Effects, Value-Added Tax: Concepts, Policy Issues, and OECD Experiences, by James M. State Taxation of Nonresidents' Retirement Income, by Robert B. Burdette, Dec. 21, 1992, 30 p. (92–970 A) Federal Taxation of Student Aid, by Bob Lyke, revised Dec. 21, 1992, 6 p. (92–961 EPW) Social Security: the Relationship of Taxes and Benefits, by Geoffrey Kollman, Revised Dec. 16, 1992, 16 p. (92-956 EPW) Social Security Tax Debate: a Fact Sheet, by David Koitz and Geoffrey Kollman, Dec. 3, 1992, 2 p. (92–894 EPW) Expiring Tax Provisions: issue brief, by David L. Brumbaugh, updated regularly (IB92119) A Value-Added Tax Contrasted With a National Sales Tax: issue brief, by James M. Bickley, updated regularly (IB92069) The Research and Experimentation Tax Credit: issue brief, by David L. Brumbaugh, updated regularly (IB92039) Targeted Jobs Tax Credit: Action in the 102nd Congress: issue brief, by Linda Levine, updated regularly (IB92007) Tax Treatment of Alimony and Child Support, by Louis Alan Talley, Nov. 27, 1992, 6 p. (92-871 E) Executive Pay: Tax Treatment of Long-Term Incentives, by Gerald Mayer, Nov. 24, 1992, 19 p. (92–975 E) Taxation of Unemployment Benefits: a Fact Sheet, by James R. Storey, Nov. 23, 1992, 2 p. (92-831 EPW) Newark Morning Ledger Co. v. United States: the Depreciation of Acquired Intangible Property, by Harry G. Gourevitch, Nov. 23, 1992, 10 p. (92-835 S) Value-added Tax: Tax Bases and Revenue Yields, by James M. Bickley, revised Nov. 23, 1992, 8 p. (92–176 E) Education and Training Employment Tax: a Brief Overview, by Bob Lyke, Nov. 12, 1992, 2 p. (92-806 EPW) Does the U.S. Tax System Encourage Firms to Invest Overseas Rather than in the United States? by David L. Brumbaugh, Nov. 2, 1992, 6 p. (92-782 E) Individual Income Tax Rates: 1993, by Gregg A. Esenwein, Oct. 5, 1992, 12 p. (92748 E) Mandatory Income Tax Withholding from Pension Distributions, by James R. Storey, Sept. 14, 1992, 6 p. (92-629 EPW) The Question of Indexing Capital Gains by Regulation, by Harry G. Gourevitch, revised Sept. 10, 1992, 2 p. (92-286 S) Federal Excise Tax on Beer, by Louis Alan Talley, Aug. 19, 1992, 5 p. (92-655 E) Carbon taxes: Cost-Effective Environmental Control or Just Another Tax? by Larry Parker, Aug. 4, 1992, 32 p. (92-623 ENR) The Tradeoff Between Low Tax Rates and Tax Complexity, by Harry G. Gourevitch, July 28, 1992, 12 p. (92–596 S) Value-Added Tax: Should It Be Calculated by the Credit-Invoice or Subtraction Method? by James M. Bickley, June 15, 1992, 12 p. (92–504 E) Quill v. North Dakota: the Mail Order Tax Case, by Thomas B. Ripy, June 8, 1992, 2 p. (92-487 A) Enterprise Zones: the Design of Tax Incentives, by Jane G. Gravelle, June 3, 1992, 17 p. (92-476 S) Individual Capital Gains Tax Issues, by Gregg A. Esenwein, May 22, 1992, 6 p. (92– 456 E) The Excise Tax on Jewelry, by Robert B. Burdette, May 15, 1992, 5 P. (92-440 A) Should the Federal Tax Exemption for Children be Raised? by Gerald Mayer, May 8, 1992, 15 p. (92-489 E) Barker v. Kansas: Discriminatory State Income Taxes on Military Retirees Prohibited, by Marie B. Morris, May 7, 1992, 4 p. (92-417 A) Flat Rate Tax Proposals, by Gregg A. Esenwein, May 5, 1992, 6 p (92-406 E) Tax Policy: What Happened? What Next? by Donald W. Kiefer, May 4, 1992, 29 p. (92-399 S) New Tax Proposals: Flat, VAT, and Variations, by Jane G. Gravelle, April 27, 1992, 18 p. (92-386 S) Tax Incentives to Train or Retrain the Work Force, by Nonna A. Noto and Louis Alan Talley, revised Apr. 9, 1992, 8 p. (92-346 E) Tax Status of Group Legal Services Plans, by Louis Alan Talley, revised April 8, 1992, 9 p. (92-345 E) Tax Rates and the Marriage Penalty, by Robert B. Burdette, March 30, 1992, 2 p. (92-319 A) Tax Allowance for Interest Payments on Educational Loans: Data and Discussion of Issues, by Louis Alan Talley and Bob Lyke, March 27, 1992, 13 p. (92–316 E) The Alternative Minimum Tax for Individuals, by Gregg A. Esenwein, March 24, 1992, 5 p. (92-304 E) Mass Transit Fares: Federal Tax Exclusion Proposals, by Louis Alan Talley, March 23, 1992, 8 p. (92–298 E) Tax Proposals: a Brief Comparison of the House, Senate, and Administration Alternatives, by Jack Taylor and David L. Brumbaugh, March 18, 1992, 9 p. (92– 297 E) Frequently Asked Questions Concerning the Federal Income Tax, by John R. Luckey, revised March 13, 1992, 27 p. (92–303 A) Federal Income Tax Treatment of the Elderly, by Louis Alan Talley, revised March 12, 1992, 9 p. (92-277 E) Alcohol, Tobacco, and Gasoline Excise Tax Rates Adjusted for Inflation, by Louis Alan Talley and Brian W. Cashell, revised March 6, 1992, 5 p. (92–263 E) Income Tax Payments by Foreign-Controlled Corporations, by Harry G. Gourevitch, March 5, 1992, 9 p. (92-261 S) Taxation of Health Insurance for the Self-Employed, by Gerald Mayer, March 4, 1992, 6 p. (92-251 E) Corporate-Owned Life Insurance: Tax Issues, by Jack Taylor, Feb. 26, 1992, 2 p. (92-227 E) Federal Tax Expenditures Related to Education; Fiscal Year 1993 Estimates, by Bob Lyke, Feb. 21, 1992, 6 p. (92-206 EPW) Tax Subsidies for Investment: Issues and Proposals, by Jane G. Gravelle, Feb. 21, 1992, 26 p. (92-205 S) Rules Governing Salary Reduction Retirement Plans, by James Storey, revised Feb. 18, 1992, 21 p. (92–218 EPW) Summary of the 1975 Tax Credit for Purchase of a New Principal Residence, by John R. Luckey, Feb. 14, 1992, 2 p. (92–175 A) Taxing Deferred Annuities, by Jack Taylor, Feb. 13, 1992, 4 p. (92–170 E) Corporate Title Sponsorship Payments to Nonprofit College Football Bowl Games: Should They be Taxed? by Dennis Zimmerman, Feb. 11, 1992, 13 p. (92–157 E) The Effect of the Luxury Excise Tax on the Sale of Luxury Boats, by Dennis Zimmerman, Feb.10, 1992, 9 p. (92-149 E) Tax Policy and the U.S. Trade Balance, 1981-91, by David L. Brumbaugh, Feb. 6, 1992, 10 p. (92–161 E) Medicare: the Change in the Hospital Insurance Tax that Became Effective in 1991, by David Koitz, Feb. 5, 1992, 5 p. (92–130 EPW) Would a Revenue-Neutral Middle Class Tax Cut Increase Aggregate Demand? by Brian W. Cashell, Jan. 29, 1992, 9 p. (92–105 E) Income Tax Exclusion of Gain from Sale of a Primary Residence, by Louis Alan Talley, revised Jan. 16, 1992, 5 p. (92–77 E) How Long Does it Take New Retirees to Recover the Value of Their Social Security Taxes? by Geoffrey Kollman, revised Jan. 15, 1992, 18 p. (92-79 EPW) Potential Macroeconomic Effects of a Capital Gains Tax Cut, by Jane G. Gravelle and Brian W. Cashell, Jan. 2, 1992, 7 p. (92–33 S) Tax Issues Related to Health Insurance Reform, by Nonna A. Noto, Jan. 2, 1992, 12 p. (92–32 E) Tax Cuts and Rebates for Economic Stimulus: the Historical Record, by Donald W. Kiefer, Jan. 2, 1992, 11 p. (92–20 S) Tax Expenditures for Health Care, by Nonna A. Noto, Jan. 1, 1992, 13 p. (92–12 E) B. General Accounting Office The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) assists the Congress in carrying out its legislative and oversight responsibilities by evaluating or auditing Federal agencies. In the tax area, GAO does two types of reviews-those that evaluate IRS's administration of the tax system and those that analyze tax policy GAO reviews start through three main avenues. First, GAO initiates some reviews based on an annual planning process that considers factors such as congressional interest, programs' significance and opportunities to have an impact. Second, legislation sometimes mandates a specific review. Third, congressional committees, subcommittees or members ask GAO to undertake reviews. Committee requests always result in some type of review while those from individual members are honored to the extent possible. To complete these reviews, from time to time GAO may need access to information from tax returns. Tax-writing congressional committees grant this access based on established procedures to protect confidentiality. One such procedure is to select transactions through random sampling. It is GAO's policy not to investigate and report on the tax status of specific taxpayers identified for GAO by others. To further protect confidentiality, GAO staff must adhere to various procedures and requirements, and GAO findings must be reported in the aggregate. GAO reviews usually aim to evaluate the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of the Federal tax system. When a review indicates that an IRS activity or a tax law can be improved, recommendations are offered on ways to make the improvement. Findings on whether the aims are achieved, along with related recommendations, are usually captured in GAO reports. Reports range from those that lay out detailed analyses and recommendations in evaluating one or more issues to those that summarize facts in answering specific questions. Recommendations focus on changes in the future to avoid affecting ongoing tax cases. Further, some work culminates in briefings to Congressional staff or members, or in testimony to Congressional committees. Recent reports and GAO officials A listing of some recent GAO tax reports follow. Congressional offices should call GAO's Office of Congressional Relations at (202) 512-5388 to order copies of GAO reports. To discuss work that GAO could do or to obtain briefings on completed work, call any of the key officials listed below. CHRONOLOGICAL LISTING OF GAO PRODUCTS ON TAX MATTERS ISSUED IN FISCAL Testimony on Amortizing Purchased Intangible Assets (GAO/T-GGD-92-001) 10/ Standards Adhered to in Issuing Revenue Ruling 90–27 (GAO/GGD–92–15) 11/19/ 91 Testimony on IRS' Implementation of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (GAO/T-GGD-92– 09) 12/10/91 IRS Implementation of the 1988 Taxpayer Bill of Rights (GAO/GGD-92–23) 12/10/ 91 Private Pensions: IRS Efforts Underway to Improve Spousal Consent Forms (GAO/ HRD-92-31) 12/20/91 Veterans' Benefits: Millions in Savings Possible From VA's Matching Program With IRS and SSA (GAO/HRD–92-37) 12/23/91 Status of IRS' Efforts to Deal With Integrity and Ethics Issues (GAO/GGD-92–16) 12/31/91 Testimony on Summary of GAO Work Related to Expiring Tax Provisions (GAO/TGGD-92-11) 1/28/92 IRS' Implementation of Certain Compliance Initiatives (GAO/T-GGD-92–45FS) 1/ 30/92 Federal Agency Tax Compliance Problems Remain; Improvements Are Planned (GAŎ/GGD-92-29) 2/18/92 Earned Income Tax Credit: Advance Payment Option Is Not Widely Known or Understood by the Public (GAO/GGD-92–26) 2/19/92 Luxury Excise Tax Issues and Estimated Effects (GAO/GGD-92–9) 2/26/92 IRS Procurement: Software Documentation Requirement Did Not Restrict Competition (GAO/IMTEC-92-30) 3/02/92 Testimony on Tax Systems Modernization: Factors Critical to Success (GAO/TIMTEC-92-10) 3/10/92 Tax Systems Modernization: IRS Award to MITRE Corporation Violated the Competition in Contracting Act (GAO/IMTEC-92-28) 3/12/92 Tax Systems Modernization: IRS Could Have Avoided Successful Protests of Major Computer Procurement (GAO/IMTEC-92-27) 3/13/92 Testimony on Federal Contractor Tax Delinquencies and Status of the 1992 Tax Return Filing Season (GAO/T-GGD-92–23) 3/17/92 IRS' System Used in Prioritizing Taxpayer Delinquencies Can Be Improved (GAO/ Testimony on Tax Systems Modernization: Progress Mixed in Addressing Critical Testimony on An Update on IRS' Progress on Accounts Receivable and Strategic IRS' Efforts to Improve Corporate Compliance (GAO/GGD-92-81BR) 4/17/92 92 IRS Undercover Operations Management Oversight Should be Strengthened (GAO/ GGD-92-79) 4/21/92 Testimony on One Stop Service: A New Concept of Assistance for Taxpayers (GAO/ T-GGD-92-33) 4/28/92 Tax Systems Modernization: Input Processing Strategy is Risky and Lacks a Sound Analytical Basis (GAO/T-IMTEC-92–15) 4/29/92 Testimony on IRS' Budget Request for Fiscal Year 1993 (GAO/T-GGD-92–34) 4/30/ 92 Pharmaceutical Industry: Tax Benefits of Operating in Puerto Rico (GAO/GGD-92– 72BR) 5/4/92 Performance Measurement: An Important Tool in Managing for Results (GAO/TGGD-92-35) 5/5/92 Opportunities to Reduce Taxpayer Burden Through Return-Free Filing (GAO/GGD92-88BR) 5/8/92 Status of Efforts to Curb Motor Fuel Tax Evasion (GAO/GGD-92-67) 5/12/92 Tax Systems Modernization: Update on Critical Issues Facing IRS (GAO/T-IMTEC92-18) 5/13/92 Testimony on Opportunities to Reduce the Burden of Filing and Processing Tax Returns (GAO/T-GGD-92-41) 5/13/92 1991 Annual Report on GAO's Tax-Related Work (GAO/GGD–92–57) 5/21/92 Tax Systems Modernization: IRS' Key Planning Components (GAO/IMTEC-92–55R) 5/22/92 Allegations Concerning Certain IRS Contracts for ADP Support Services (GAO/ GGD-92-14R) 5/28/92 IRS' Executives' Views on the Business Review Process (GAO/GGD-92-103FS) 5/29/ 92 Testimony on Tax Administration: Compliance 2000-A Worthy Idea That Needs Effective Implementation (GAO/T-ĠGD-92-48) 6/3/92 Problems Persist in Determining Tax Effects of Intercompany Prices (GAO/GGD92-89) 6/15/92 |