SENSE OF CONGRESS AS TO INCREASED INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE FUNDING FOR TAXPAYER ASSISTANCE AND ENFORCEMENT.

SEC. 10622. SENSE OF CONGRESS AS TO INCREASED INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE FUNDING FOR TAXPAYER ASSISTANCE AND ENFORCEMENT. (a) Findings.— The Congress hereby finds that— (1) the Internal Revenue Service estimates that the amount of taxes owed for 1986 will exceed the amount of taxes collected for such year by $100 billion; (2) the current taxpayer compliance rate stands at 81.5 percent; (3) the tax gap can be significantly reduced by enhancing taxpayer assistance services and enforcement; and (4) the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives, in its fiscal year 1988 Internal Revenue Service appropriation, took a step in the direction of providing additional funding for taxpayer assistance and enforcement efforts. (b) It is the sense of the Congress that: (1) The Congress increase outlays for the Internal Revenue Service in fiscal year 1989 and fiscal year 1990 in the areas of taxpayer assistance and enforcement by $.7 billion in fiscal year 1989 for a revenue total of $3.2 billion and by $.8 billion in fiscal year 1990 for a revenue total of $4.4 billion. The net revenue increase would be $2.5 billion in fiscal year 1989 and $3.6 billion in fiscal year 1990, or a net revenue increase over the House 101 STAT. 1330–453Appropriations Committee recommendations of $.4 billion in fiscal year 1989 and $1.3 billion in fiscal year 1990. (2) The Internal Revenue Service offer improved taxpayer assistance and enforcement efforts by using the aforementioned outlays in areas recommended by, or consistent with the recommendations of, the “Dorgan Task Force Report”. Taxpayer assistance efforts would include providing expanded taxpayer education programs, instituting pilot programs of taxmobiles in rural areas, and upgrading the quality of telephone assistance. Taxpayer enforcement efforts would include raising the audit rate from 1.1 percent toward 2.5 percent, restoring resources to criminal investigations, and the collection of delinquent accounts. (3) The Congress should undertake an experimental multiyear authorization and 2-year appropriation for the Internal Revenue Service consistent with the recommendations in Public Law 100–119, section127 201 (Increasing the Statutory Limit on the Public Debt). (4) Increased funding should be provided for compilation and analysis of statistics of income and research. The Internal Revenue Service must issue a report on the extent of the tax gap and the measures that could be undertaken to decrease the tax gap. The report must utilize more current data than has been utilized recently. The report must be issued by April 15, 1989. The Internal Revenue Service must also report annually on the improvements being made in the audit rate, taxpayer assistance, and enforcement efforts.