Internal Revenue Service: Assessment of the 2008 Budget Request and an Update of 2007 Performance

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) budget request shows how IRS intends to balance spending for enforcement and taxpayer service, including spending for new initiatives and the Business Systems Modernization (BSM) program. A combination of enforcement and taxpayer service promotes compliance with the tax laws. GAO was asked to (1) compare IRS's proposed FY 2008 budget to prior years' and assess how the new spending initiatives are justified, and (2) describe IRS's enforcement, filing season, and BSM performance. GAO analyses are based on IRS's 2008 budget submission, supplementary IRS data, interviews with IRS officials, and prior GAO reports. Some of GAO's analyses have been reported earlier this year and updated here.