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 2007-02-16 monographic deposited born digital 27 p. GA 1.13:GAO-07-488T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-488T P0b002ee18038026f f:d07488t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-488T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-488T GAO-07-488T Cost analysis Excise taxes Federal taxes Income taxes Noncompliance Property taxes Strategic planning Tax administration Tax evasion Tax law Tax nonpayment Tax violations Tax gap Testimony A66004 The tax gap--the difference between the tax amounts taxpayers pay voluntarily and on time and what they should pay under the law--has been a long-standing problem in spite of many efforts to reduce it. Most recently, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimated a gross tax gap for tax year 2001 of $345 billion and estimated it would recover $55 billion of this gap, resulting in a net tax gap of $290 billion. When some taxpayers fail to comply, the burden of funding the nation's commitments falls more heavily on compliant taxpayers. Reducing the tax gap would help improve the nation's fiscal stability. For example, each 1 percent reduction in the net tax gap would likely yield $3 billion annually. GAO was asked to discuss the tax gap, various approaches to reduce it, and what the proposed budget for fiscal year 2008 says about it. This testimony discusses the need for taking multiple approaches and to what extent the tax gap could be reduced through three overall approaches--simplifying or reforming the tax system, providing IRS with additional enforcement tools, and devoting additional resources to enforcement. This statement is based on prior GAO work. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-488T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-488T.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-488T/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-488T.pdf GAO-07-488T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-488T Testimony GAO-07-488T; Tax Compliance: Multiple Approaches Are Needed to Reduce the Tax Gap; Cost analysis Excise taxes Federal taxes Income taxes Noncompliance Property taxes Strategic planning Tax administration Tax evasion Tax law Tax nonpayment Tax violations Tax gap Volume 88 Page 299 88 Stat. 299 Public Law 93-344 Public Law 105-34