Treasury Department Releases Updated Tax Gap Report

The Treasury Department yesterday delivered an Update on Reducing the Federal Tax Gap and Improving Voluntary Compliance to Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus:

Building on reports previously released, this report is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of efforts to close the tax gap. This report is also intended to serve as a baseline for further work and discussion. After briefly discussing the nature and scope of the tax gap, this report summarizes previous Treasury and IRS tax gap reports and identifies the areas of strategic priority detailed in those reports. This report then summarizes the achievements, ongoing efforts, and new initiatives for achieving progress in each of those areas of strategic priority, organized according to the components of the strategy to reduce the tax gap detailed in prior reports.

As this report will make clear, the IRS and Treasury, working with Congress, are pursuing a wide range of initiatives, including a series of legislative proposals included in the Administration’s FY 2010 budget. The Administration recognizes the particular value of those efforts and initiatives that improve voluntary compliance by making the tax filing process easier and more taxpayer-friendly. While aggressive enforcement activity can also help to narrow the tax gap, it is important to recognize that increased enforcement efforts require certain trade-offs. The Administration is committed to working closely with Congress to strike an appropriate balance to maximize revenue collection without imposing unreasonable compliance and enforcement burdens on the vast majority of individuals and businesses that fully and willingly pay what they owe.

• Senate Finance Commitee Press Release