United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2007-03-30 monographic deposited born digital 40 p. GA 1.13:GAO-07-237 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-237 P0b002ee180383c1e f:d07237 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-237 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-237 GAO-07-237 Assets Criminal activities Fraud Internal controls Law enforcement Tax evasion Tax shelters Tax violations Other Written Product A67574 Much offshore financial activity is not illegal, but numerous illegal offshore schemes have been devised to hide or disguise the true ownership of income streams and assets. IRS studies show lengthy development times for some offshore cases, which suggests that time or the lack thereof could be an impediment to effectively addressing offshore schemes. GAO was asked to (1) compare offshore and nonoffshore examination cases and determine whether the 3-year statute of limitations reduces offshore assessments, (2) compare enforcement problems posed by offshore cases to those where Congress has previously granted an exception to the statute, and (3) identify possible advantages and disadvantages of an exception to the statute for offshore cases. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed IRS data, reviewed examination files and other documents, and interviewed IRS officials and others in the tax practitioner and policy communities. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-237/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-237.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-237/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-237.pdf GAO-07-237 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-237 Other Written Product GAO-07-237; Tax Administration: Additional Time Needed to Complete Offshore Tax Evasion Examinations; Assets Criminal activities Fraud Internal controls Law enforcement Tax evasion Tax shelters Tax violations Volume 39 Page 756 39 Stat. 756 Volume 40 Page 1057 40 Stat. 1057 Volume 47 Page 169 47 Stat. 169 Volume 48 Page 683 48 Stat. 683