Tax Gap: IRS Can Improve Efforts to Address Tax Evation by Networks of Businesses and Related Entities

摘要

A taxpayer can control a group of related entities--such as trusts, corporations, or partnerships--in a network. These networks can serve a variety of legitimate business purposes, but they also can be used in complex tax evasion schemes that are difficult for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to identify. GAO was asked to (1) describe what IRS knows about network tax evasion and how well IRS's traditional enforcement programs address it and (2) assess IRS's progress in addressing network tax evasion and opportunities, if any, for making further progress. To do this, GAO reviewed relevant documentation about IRS programs and interviewed appropriate officials about those programs and IRS's plans for addressing such tax evasion. GAO also interviewed relevant experts and agency officials in developing criteria needed to perform the assessment.