The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund awarded $26 billion in New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) through 2009 for invest. in low-income communities. The NMTC allows investors to claim a tax credit totaling 39% of their invest. in Community Development Entities (CDE) over 7 years which CDEs reinvest in qualified communities. This report: (1) describes where and how CDEs are using NMTCs; (2) assesses how CDEs use NMTCs to offer favorable financing terms to low-income community bus. and describes options for simplifying the NMTC; (3) describes how NMTC invest. support low-income community development; and (4) determines how effective IRS and the CDFI Fund have been in monitoring NMTC compliance. Illustrations.
The outstanding amount of state and local gov¿t. tax-exempt bonds has increased over the years. Congress is interested in whether the bonds are used for appropriate purposes since the fed. gov¿t. forgoes billions in tax revenues annually by excluding the bonds¿ interest from investors¿ fed. gross income. Questions also exist over the bonds¿ borrowing costs as they can divert funds from the funded projects. This report: (1) describes recent trends in tax exempt bonds; (2) provides information on the types of facilities financed with tax-exempt bonds; and (3) discusses borrowing costs considering the methods of selling bonds and compares issuance costs paid from bond proceeds for governmental and qualified private activity bonds. Charts.
In September 2006, the IRS started the private debt collection (PDC) program for using private collection agencies (PCA) to help collect some unpaid tax debts. Aware of concerns that PCAs might cost more than using IRS staff, IRS began studying the collection costs and performance of PCAs and IRS. In March 2009, IRS announced that it would not renew its PCA contracts based on the study and announced plans for increasing collection staffing. This report examined whether: (1) the study was sound as primary support for IRS's PDC decision; and (2) IRS has planned or made changes to its collection approach based on its PCA experience and the PDC study. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables. A print on demand publications.
In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma devastated the Gulf Coast, destroying wide swaths of housing, key infrastructure, and numerous private bus. In response, Congress passed the Gulf Opportunity (GO) Zone Act of 2005 which provided tax incentives to individuals and bus. in certain disaster areas. This report reviews how state and local governments allocated and used fed. tax incentives in the act and subsequent legislation: (1) identifies tax incentives in the GO Zone Act and subsequent legislation for which state and local governments have allocation and oversight responsibilities; (2) describes the procedures state governments use in allocating the tax incentives; and (3) describes how tax incentives have been allocated and for what purposes. Illus.
To ensure that individuals have notice about how their personal info. is handled when they visit Fed. Web sites, the OMB issued a memo requiring Fed. agencies to post privacy policies on their Internet Web sites and provided guidance. It requires agencies to post privacy policies that: clearly and concisely inform visitors to the Web sites what info. the agency collects, why it is collected, and how it will be used; and are clearly labeled and easily accessed when someone visits a Web site. This report provides info. on whether agencies were adhering to the OMB guidance. Compares OMB1s memo and its guidance with statutory require. that are applicable to agencies.
The Community Develop. Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund has awarded $19 bill. in New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to encourage invest. in low-income communities. The NMTC allows investors to claim a tax credit in exchange for investing in Community Development Entities (CDE) that reinvest the funds in qualified communities. This report: (1) identifies the number of minority and non-minority CDEs that have applied to the CDFI Fund and received NMTC awards; (2) explains the process by which the CDFI Fund makes NMTC awards; (3) describes challenges that minority and non-minority CDEs face in receiving NMTC awards; and (4) identifies efforts the CDFI Fund are taking to assist minority CDEs in applying for NMTC awards. Illus.
The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund has awarded $21 billion of the $26 billion in New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to Community Development Entities (CDE) between 2001 and 2009. CDEs use the NMTC to make qualified investments in low-income communities. This testimony: (1) identifies the number of minority and non-minority CDEs that applied to the CDFI Fund and received NMTC awards; (2) explains the process by which the CDFI Fund makes awards and summarizes application scores; (3) describes challenges minority and non-minority CDEs face in applying for and receiving awards and; (4) identifies efforts the CDFI Fund and others have taken to assist minority CDEs in applying for awards. Tables.
NARA operates presidential libraries for all of the former U.S. presidents since Herbert Hoover. These libraries received over 2.4 million visits in 2009, including researchers, public program attendees, and museum visitors. Each library is associated with a private foundation, which raised the funds to build the library and then turned the library facility over to the federal government. These foundations typically have ongoing relationships with the libraries they built, and some of these libraryfoundation relationships involve sharing of staff and facilities. This report describes the principal laws, regulations, and NARA policies that govern libraryfoundation relationships and the appropriate use of library facilities and staff. Illus. This is a print on demand report.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was enacted to bolster the struggling U.S. economy at an estimated cost of $787 billion, of which more than a third was in the form of tax relief to the public. This report: (1) describes the status of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) implementation of Recovery Act tax provisions; (2) examines whether IRS captured or planned to capture data on the use of the provisions; (3) assesses IRS's efforts to determine potential abuse of the provisions; and (4) discusses possible lessons learned for future tax administration. Charts and tables.
In 2010, the IRS processed 137 million individual income tax returns and issued 107 million refunds totaling $312 billion. The compliance checks it performs before refunds are issued thus could affect millions of taxpayers and billions of dollars of refunds by identifying taxpayers who overclaim or underclaim tax benefits to which they are entitled. Math error authority is just one example of the pre-refund compliance checks that IRS uses. During 2010, IRS sent taxpayers 8.4 million notices for 10.6 million math errors identified on their 2009 individual tax returns. This statement focuses on 3 key areas: (1) pre-refund checks and their benefits; (2) how those checks can be enhanced immediately, and in the future. This is a print on demand report.
The Advance Earned Income Tax Credit (AEITC) allows individuals to receive a portion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in their paychecks, instead of receiving all of it when filing their year-end tax return. Limited research has been conducted on the AEITC since it was last examined it in the early 1990s. This report determines: (1) how many individuals received the AEITC compared with the EITC in tax years 2002 through 2004, what actions, if any, have been taken to increase use, and the potential for increases in use in the future; (2) the extent of noncompliance, if any, associated with the AEITC; and (3) how well the IRS¿s procedures address the areas of noncompliance. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables.
Millions of taxpayers use paid tax return preparers and many of these paid preparers are not subject to any qualification requirements. Paid preparers in Calif. and Oregon are exceptions in that these states have set paid preparer qualification standards. Additionally, two bills before Congress would require national paid preparer regulations. This report studied: (1) how IRS, Calif., Oregon, and other states regulate paid preparers; (2) how the accuracy of federal tax returns from Calif. and Oregon compare to other returns; and (3) state-level costs and benefits of the Calif. and Oregon programs and insights they provide for a possible national program. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables.
Individual retirement accounts (IRA) allow individuals to save for retirement in a tax-preferred way. Traditional IRA contributions can be deducted from taxable earnings, and taxes on earnings are deferred until dist. In contrast, Roth IRA contributions are made after taxes, and dist. are tax-free. Faced with a myriad of rules covering IRA contributions and dist., taxpayers may fail to comply with the rules. This report: (1) provides an overview of key rules and describe how the IRS educates taxpayers about these rules; (2) describes what the IRS knows about the extent of noncompliance with IRA transactions reported on taxpayer returns; and (3) describes challenges taxpayers face with key rules and some options for strengthening compliance. Illus.
The nation's 4-year not-for-profit colleges and univ. collectively held more than $400 billion in endowments in 2008. Some institutions' large endowments coupled with the high and growing cost of college have led to questions about institutions' use of endowments. This report describes: (1) the size and change in value of endowments over the last 20 years; (2) the extent and manner to which endowment funds are restricted for financial aid and other purposes; and (3) institutions' distribution of endowment assets. The author selected 10 colleges and univ. for case studies. The case-study institutions were selected to include a mix of public, private, large, small, and minority-serving institutions. Information from these schools cannot be generalized to all U.S. colleges and universities. Figures.
Examines an issue involving the Dept. of Commerce¿s National Technical Information Service (NTIS), a permanent repository & principal disseminator for scientific, technical, & engineering information. It also responds to broader NTIS issues of congressional concern regarding NTIS¿ World News Connection (WNC), which operates an on-line foreign news service that disseminates to the public, for a fee, news obtained from the CIA¿s Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS). The Senate asked the author to determine whether WNC¿s foreign news service: (1) falls within NTIS¿ statutory authority: & (2) is detrimental to private businesses that offer similar news services. Charts & tables.
Native Americans lag behind other Americans on many key economic indicators, such as median household income. To improve such conditions, Congress in 1993 created Indian Reservation Depreciation (IRD), a tax expenditure offering accelerated depreciation for property invested on Indian reservations. This report: (1) describes which taxpayers claimed IRD; (2) analyzes the effect of IRD on the economic development of reservations; and (3) describes the tax benefits offered by IRD. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables.
Civil tax penalties are an important tool for encouraging compliance with tax laws. It is important that the IRS administers penalties properly and determines the effectiveness of penalties in encouraging compliance. In response to a congressional request, the auditor determined: (1) whether IRS is evaluating penalties in a manner that supports sound penalty administration and voluntary compliance and, if not, how IRS may be able to do so; and (2) whether IRS's guidance for a new penalty for failure to disclose reportable transactions was issued in a timely manner and was useful to affected parties, and whether and how IRS has assessed the penalty. The auditor reviewed IRS documents and guidance, and interviewed IRS officials and tax practitioners.
Individual taxpayers who misreport charitable cash contributions they deduct on their tax returns contribute to the tax gap, the diff. between tax amounts taxpayers report and pay voluntarily and on time and the amounts they should pay under the law. The IRS estimated a gross tax gap of $345 billion for tax year 2001. One approach that tends to result in high levels of taxpayer compliance is info. reporting to IRS by third parties on taxpayer transactions. This report: (1) provides info. on characteristics of individual taxpayer misreporting of charitable cash contributions (CCC); (2) provides info. on actions that IRS takes to address misreporting; and (3) evaluates potential benefits and challenges assoc. with requiring info. reporting for CCC. Charts and tables.
Fed. assistance helps students & families pay for postsecondary ed. through several policy tools -- grant & loan programs authorized by title IV of the Higher Ed. Act of 1965 & more recently enacted tax preferences. In FY 2004, about $14 billion in grants & $56 billion in loans were made under Title IV while estimated outlay equivalents for postsecondary tax preferences amounted to $10 billion. In light of the relative newness & financial significance of tax preferences, this report examines: (1) how Title IV assistance compares to that provided through the tax code; (2) the extent to which tax filers effectively use postsecondary tax preferences; & (3) what is known about the effectiveness of fed. assistance. Charts & tables.
The Joint Committee on Taxation identified improved taxpayer compliance with the real-estate tax deduction as a way to reduce the fed. tax gap -- the difference between taxes owed and taxes voluntarily and timely paid. This report examined: (1) factors that contribute to taxpayers including non-deductible charges; (2) the extent that taxpayers may be claiming such charges; (3) the extent that IRS examinations focus on the inclusion of such charges; and (4) possible options for improving taxpayer compliance. The auditor surveyed a generalizable sample of local gov¿ts., studied taxpayer compliance in two jurisdictions that met selection criteria, reviewed IRS documents, and interviewed gov¿t. officials. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables.
Much offshore financial activity by individual U.S. taxpayers is not illegal, but numerous schemes have been devised to hide the true ownership of funds held offshore and income moving between the U.S. and offshore jurisdictions. In recent years, there have been reports on several aspects of offshore financial activity and the tax compliance and tax admin. challenges such activity raises for the IRS. This report summarizes recent work describing individual offshore tax non-compliance, factors that enable offshore non-compliance, and the challenges that U.S. taxpayers' financial activity in offshore jurisdictions pose for the IRS.
The State Reverse File Match Initiative (SRFMI) is one of the IRS¿s data-sharing strategies to reduce the estimated $345 billion gross fed. tax gap. SRFMI matches fed. and state taxpayer data to identify noncompliant taxpayers -- individuals and businesses who do not file tax returns or do not report all of their income. IRS's document-matching program has proven to be a highly cost-effective way of identifying underreported income, thereby bringing in billions of dollars of tax revenue while boosting voluntary compliance. Based on concerns about whether IRS is fully using data from state and local gov¿ts. to reduce the tax gap, this report assesses IRS's plan for evaluating the effectiveness of the SRFMI pilot taxpayer data-sharing program.
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