U S Government Accountability Office

IRS 2017 Budget U S Government Accountability Office

" Funding the federal government depends largely upon IRS's ability to collect taxes, including providing taxpayer services that make voluntary compliance easier and enforcing tax laws to ensure compliance with tax responsibilities. For fiscal year 2017, the President requested $12.3 billion in appropriations for IRS; the request is almost $1 billion (9 percent) more than IRS's fiscal year 2016 appropriation. Because of the size of IRS's budget and the importance of its service and compliance programs for all taxpayers, GAO was asked to review the fiscal year 2017 budget request for IRS. In March 2016, GAO reported interim information on IRS's budget. This report assesses (1) the extent to which IRS's fiscal year 2017 CJ presents data on requested funding levels by appropriation accounts and in alignment with agency priorities, (2) IRS's management and allocation of user fees, and (3) the costs and reporting of IRS's IT investments. GAO reviewed the fiscal year 2017 CJ, documentation on IRS's vision for the future state, IRS budget plans, IT investment reports, and IRS budget data for fiscal years 2011 to 2017, interviewed IRS officials, and met with congressional appropriations staff to discuss the information they want included in the CJ. "