U S Government Accountability Office

2012 Tax Filing U S Government Accountability Office

" The tax filing season is an enormous undertaking during which the IRS processes millions of tax returns, issues billions of dollars in refunds and provides service to millions of taxpayers over the phone, online, and face-to-face. It also identifies taxpayers who owe additional taxes and begins the process of collecting their balance due. GAO was asked to review IRS's performance during the 2012 filing season. Among other things, this report (1) assesses IRS's performance in processing returns, issuing refunds, and providing service to taxpayers over the phone, online, and in-person; and (2) describes what is known about taxpayers who filed returns with a balance due for tax year 2010 and assesses IRS's efforts to ensure timely payment. To conduct the analyses, GAO obtained and compared IRS data from 2007 through 2012, reviewed pertinent IRS documents, interviewed IRS officials and observed IRS operations, and interviewed other experts in tax administration, including from states and tax preparation firms. "