IRM/General Government Division Issue Area Plan--Fiscal Years 1994-96
(Letter Report, 03/01/95, GAO/IAP-95-8).

GAO provided information on its Information Resources
Management--General Government Division issue area plan, focusing on:
(1) the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) tax system modernization
initiatives; (2) reducing the financial burden that illegal aliens place
on federal programs; (3) the Customs Service's modernization efforts;
and (4) reducing the risk of unauthorized access to government systems.

GAO plans to: (1) assess IRS progress toward developing a modernized tax
administration system; (2) identify security needs in current systems
that contain taxpayer data; (3) assess Customs' progress toward
modernizing its systems; (4) improve domestic security by developing
alternatives for identifying illegal and criminal aliens; (5) provide
information to Congress on actions to ensure wiretapping capabilities;
and (6) assess the effectiveness of the judicial branch's criminal debt
collection system.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  IAP-95-8
     TITLE:  IRM/General Government Division Issue Area Plan--Fiscal 
             Years 1994-96
      DATE:  03/01/95
   SUBJECT:  Strategic information systems planning
             Taxpayers
             Tax administration systems
             Computer security
             Illegal aliens
             Information dissemination operations
             Trade policies
             Information resources management
             Systems analysis
             Financial management systems
IDENTIFIER:  NAFTA
             North American Free Trade Agreement
             TSM
             IRS Tax System Modernization Program
             
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Cover
================================================================ COVER


Accounting and Information Management Division

March 1995

IRM/GENERAL GOVERNMENT DIVISION
ISSUE AREA PLAN - FISCAL YEARS
1994-96

GAO/IAP-95-8



Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV

  IRS -
  NIS -
  TSM -
  INS -

FOREWORD
============================================================ Chapter 0

The Information Resources Management--General Government Division
issue area is one of the General Accounting Office's 35 issue areas. 
Relying heavily on consultation with congressional committees, as
well as industry, academia, and agency officials and other experts,
GAO develops issue area plans to ensure that its limited resources
are directed toward the most important concerns of the Congress.  For
each issue area, GAO's strategic plan describes the significance of
the issues, our objectives, and the focus of our work.  GAO serves as
a source of timely, accurate information and unbiased analysis for
decisionmakers in the Congress and executive agencies.  Our work
results in such products as reports, briefings, and testimonies. 

Budgetary pressures and dissatisfaction with government's performance
in information technology have focused attention on the urgent need
to reform and modernize the operations of federal agencies. 

Work in the Information Resources Management--General Government
Division issue area focuses on critical information management issues
at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS), and the U.S.  Customs Service.  The
issue area also covers information management issues at the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal
Reserve System, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation, Resolution Trust Corporation, Office of
Personnel Management, Postal Service, and District of Columbia.  We
also review agencies' programs to disseminate information to the
public, such as Census Bureau and Government Printing Office
programs. 

The principal issues in the information resources management--general
government area are

ï¿½ ensuring that IRS' multibillion dollar tax systems modernization
(TSM) initiative will result in a virtually paperless tax processing
system that makes taxpayer information available to IRS employees
wherever and whenever it is needed;

ï¿½ reducing the financial burden that illegal aliens place on social
services, education, and health-care systems by finding more
effective ways for INS to identify these individuals;

ï¿½ ensuring that Customs' ongoing modernization efforts will better
enable the agency to serve the public and enforce trade laws; and

ï¿½ reducing the risk of unauthorized access to government systems. 

In the pages that follow, we describe planned work on these issues. 
Because events may significantly affect even the best of plans, our
planning process allows for updating the plan and responding quickly
to emerging issues.  If you have any questions or suggestions about
this plan, please call me at (202) 512-6419. 

Hazel E.  Edwards
Director
Information Resources Management--
  General Government Issues


CONTENTS
============================================================ Chapter 1


   FOREWORD
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:1

1


   TABLE I KEY ISSUES
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:2

4


   TABLE II PLANNED MAJOR WORK
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:3

6


   TABLE III GAO CONTACTS
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:4

7


TABLE I:  KEY ISSUES
============================================================ Chapter 2

Issue                                    Significance
---------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------
Tax policy and administration: How can   By the end of fiscal year 1995, IRS
IRS design, acquire, and maintain        will have spent over $2.5 billion on
computerized systems that streamline     its $8 billion TSM initiative to
operations and are secure?               streamline selected tax processing
                                         functions. Yet, the overall design of
                                         TSM remains incomplete, and IRS is
                                         continuing to automate existing
                                         functions with limited demonstration of
                                         how or if the pieces of the system will
                                         fit together to improve tax processing.
                                         Given such concerns and budget
                                         constraints, the Congress reduced IRS'
                                         fiscal year 1995 budget request by $339
                                         million. In making decisions on IRS'
                                         fiscal year 1996 budget, the Congress
                                         will need to know whether the
                                         management of TSM has improved.

Administration of justice: What are the  Customs and INS have significant roles
barriers to effectively using            in guarding the nation's borders.
information at key law enforcement
agencies and what changes are needed to  Customs' ability to combat unfair trade
enhance law enforcement efforts?         practices and protect the American
                                         public from unsafe goods has been
                                         hampered by a poor organizational
                                         structure, paper-intensive business
                                         processes, and outdated automated
                                         systems. The Modernization Act, which
                                         was part of the North American Free
                                         Trade Agreement (NAFTA), removes
                                         legislative constraints that required
                                         importers to submit paper documents for
                                         each import transaction and allows for
                                         electronic submission of documents. In
                                         response to the act, Customs is
                                         reorganizing and modernizing its
                                         systems. Congressional oversight
                                         committees are concerned about the
                                         implementation of the systems
                                         modernization project--a process that
                                         is estimated to cost about $100
                                         million.

                                         In fiscal year 1993, the estimated cost
                                         to provide public education to
                                         undocumented alien children in seven
                                         states exceeded $3 billion, while the
                                         cost to incarcerate criminal aliens
                                         totaled nearly $500 million.
                                         Controlling these types of costs
                                         depends on INS' ability to quickly
                                         determine whether aliens are eligible
                                         for U.S. public education, employment,
                                         and social programs and its ability to
                                         identify and deport criminal aliens.
                                         Aided with almost $158 million
                                         authorized under the 1994 Violent Crime
                                         Control and Law Enforcement Act, INS is
                                         embarking on a number of information
                                         system projects designed to help the
                                         agency accomplish its mission more
                                         effectively. The Congress will need to
                                         know whether the implementation of
                                         these projects will improve INS'
                                         enforcement efforts.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Objectives                               Focus of work
---------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------
ï¿½ Assess IRS' progress toward            ï¿½ Assess whether total system
developing a modernized system for tax   development plans adequately address
administration and provide the Congress  TSM business requirements and
with information needed to oversee and   incorporate appropriate technical
gauge the effectiveness of TSM.          guidelines or standards.

ï¿½ Identify security needs in current     ï¿½Review budget and schedules for TSM
systems that contain taxpayer data.      projects.

                                         ï¿½Review information access controls to
                                         protect against unauthorized tax data
                                         disclosure.

                                         ï¿½Review Treasury's efforts to implement
                                         a departmentwide communications
                                         network.

ï¿½ Assess Customs' progress toward        ï¿½Review status of Customs' systems
modernizing and redesigning its          modernization and redesign efforts.
systems.
                                         ï¿½Review management of criminal alien
ï¿½Improve domestic security by providing  information.
the Congress with alternatives for
identifying illegal and criminal         ï¿½ Review technology available for
aliens.                                  identifying aliens.

ï¿½Provide information to the Congress on  ï¿½Review costs of modifying the public
Federal Bureau of Investigation and      telephone network to preserve
telecommunications industry actions to   wiretapping capabilities.
ensure wiretapping capabilities.
                                         ï¿½Review the courts' efforts to develop
ï¿½Assess the effectiveness of the         a centralized criminal debt collection
judicial branch's criminal debt          system.
collection system.
















--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TABLE II:  PLANNED MAJOR WORK
============================================================ Chapter 3

Issue                      Planned major job starts
-------------------------  -----------------------------------------------------
Tax policy and             --Review IRS' management of TSM.
administration
                           --Identify the costs, benefits, and schedules of the
                           projects that make up TSM and determine the
                           implications for the TSM fiscal year 1996 budget
                           request.

                           --Review IRS' document processing system.

                           --Review status of IRS' systems security.

                           --Examine Treasury's efforts to implement its planned
                           Treasury communications system













Administration of          --Review Customs' planned modernization of its
justice                    automated commercial system.

                           --Review technology available for identifying
                           aliens.

                           --Review costs of modifying the public telephone
                           network to preserve wiretapping capabilities.
















--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TABLE III:  GAO CONTACTS
============================================================ Chapter 4


      DIRECTOR
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4:0.1

Hazel Edwards (202) 512-6278


      ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4:0.2

Linda Koontz (202) 512-7487


      ASSISTANT DIRECTORS
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4:0.3

Ronald Bageant
Leonard Baptiste
Antionette Cattledge
Mary Ellen Chervenic
Mark Heatwole
Charles Hughes
Brian Spencer
Randolph Tekeley


*** End of document. ***