Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit

IRS enforcement efforts decrease, according to new TRAC report

Saturday, April 21, 2001, By News Staff
Share

IRS enforcement efforts decrease, according to new TRAC reportApril 21, 2001Cynthia J. Moritzcjmoritz@syr.edu

Almost every type of enforcement effort by the IRS has declined since the early 1990s, according to a report issued recently by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at SU. At the same time, the number of individual and corporate tax returns filed with the government has increased.

The data were part of TRAC’s yearly report on the IRS. TRAC was established in 1989 to provide the American people, oversight institutions, news organizations and others with comprehensive information about the activities of the federal government and the communities in which these activities take place.

TRAC obtains much of its data through use of the Freedom of Information Act. Its data and findings are made available through its public Web site (http://trac.syr.edu) and two e-commerce sites where subscribers can query TRAC’s databases directly.

While declining to draw conclusions from the new data, TRAC co-director Susan Long commented that the report “certainly raises questions about whether this level of enforcement is adequate to support the government’s tax collection efforts.” Long is also an associate professor of quantitative statistics in the School of Management.

Examples of the IRS’s faltering enforcement efforts include:

?A computer program identifies individual returns with potential underreporting discrepancies. In the early 1990s, the IRS followed up on one-third to one-half of these. In 1998, it followed up on only one in six.

?In 1991, 4.8 million taxpayers received correction notices asking them to pay more taxes. In 2000, only 1.4 million of these notices went out.

?In 1992, the IRS did face-to-face audits of 55 percent of the nation’s largest corporations. In 2000, only 31 percent were audited.

?In 1987, the IRS brought civil suits against 2,519 noncompliant taxpayers. In 2000, the number of such suits was just 641.

The report points out that it is impossible to know the impact of these enforcement changes on taxpayers’ level of compliance because the IRS does not measure compliance levels. “In the absence of reliable information on the subject, however, experts are concerned that on a long-term basis less enforcement may well result in less compliance with the tax laws,” the report states.

IRS staffing has been cut by almost one-third since 1988, according to the report. At the same time, the number of individual and corporate returns has increased by 20 percent, and the agency has been instructed to offer additional services that require more people.

The TRAC report says that while technology has allowed the agency to accomplish some tasks with fewer staff, computers have not completely made up for staffing decreases.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Annual Remembrance and Lockerbie Scholar Convocation to Be Held April 30
    Thursday, April 22, 2021, By News Staff
  • Watch Pomp and Ceremony of the 104th Chancellor’s Review Award Ceremony Live on April 23
    Wednesday, April 21, 2021, By Brandon Dyer
  • Chancellor Syverud Provides Updates to the University Senate
    Wednesday, April 21, 2021, By News Staff
  • Let’s Talk About Current Issues Welcomes Open Dialogue
    Wednesday, April 21, 2021, By Gabrielle Lake
  • ‘Exhibition Interrupted’ to Honor Work of Retiring Professor Anne Munly
    Wednesday, April 21, 2021, By Julie Sharkey

More In Uncategorized

Syracuse Views Spring 2021

We want to know how you experience Syracuse University. Take a photo and share it with us. We select photos from a variety of sources. Submit photos of your University experience using #SyracuseU on social media, fill out a submission…

“How To Get A Job”

Adam Capozzi, director of Career Services, was interviewed by The University Network for the piece “How To Get A Job.” Capozzi, who helps support student success at Syracuse, discusses what students should do to get a job after graduation. He…

“Why aren’t NY farm workers in the Covid-19 vaccine line?”

Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, associate professor of food studies in Falk College, was interviewed for the Syracuse.com story “Why aren’t NY farm workers in the Covid-19 vaccine line?” Minkoff-Zern, an expert on the intersections of food and social justice, comments on the…

“Amazon Union Vote in Alabama Could Catch Attention of Syracuse Workers”

Lynne Vincent, assistant professor of management in the Whitman School, was interviewed by WAER for the story “Amazon Union Vote in Alabama Could Catch Attention of Syracuse Workers.” Vincent, an expert management and organizational behavior, says that workers at many…

“Study finds pandemic having strain on some military families”

Rosalinda Vasquez Maury, director of applied research and analytics for the Institute for Veterans & Military Families, was interviewed by WNYT Albany for the story “Study finds pandemic having strain on some military families.” Maury, who researches social, economic, and…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.