The federal government has the chance to realize substantial revenue if
the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can more effectively and efficiently
collect taxes already owed. Collections, however, were disappointing
again this year. For the third fiscal year in a row, IRS' collection of
delinquent taxes fell--from $24.2 billion in 1992 to $22.8 billion in
1993. GAO's testimony answers two questions. First, what can IRS do to
collect more tax debts and at the same time treat similarly situated
taxpayers the same? Second, what are some difficulties that taxpayers
have had in filing returns and communicating with IRS?