United States General Accounting Office GAO February 2000 Report to the Secretary of the Treasury_part5 pot

Management Discussion and Analysis Page 43 GAO/AIMD-00-76 IRS’ Fiscal Year 1999 Financial Statements INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE Management Discussion and Analysis For the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 1999 HIGH IMPACT AGENCY GOALS (1) The IRS is reporting its performance against the goals shown in Exhibit 4. These goals are part of the FY 2001 OMB Submission published September 13, 1999. These management level goals are intended to report on the IRS’ overall performance in delivering on its mission and goals. In the IRS’ future organizational structure, strategic measures will also be applicable for each of its four major operating divisions. Immediately following Exhibit 4, a brief explanation of what each performance goal is designed to measure is provided. In addition, an explanatory narrative is also provided into the causes of significant variances in performance between plan, actual, and prior year results. Since the IRS is in the process of developing procedures and requirements for the verification and validation of its High Impact Agency Goals, the reader should use prudence in making assessments or drawing conclusions from them. Exhibit 4 GOALS FY 99 Plan FY 99 Actual FY 98 Actual 1. Toll-Free Level of Service (2) 2. Tax Law Accuracy Rate for Taxpayer Inquiries (Toll-Free) 3. Refund Timeliness - Paper (%) 4. Refund Timeliness - e-file (%) 5. Number of Individual Returns filed through Electronic Return Originators (EROs) (millions) 6. Number of TeleFile Returns (millions) 7. Number of Eligible Quarterly Forms (Form 941) filed through TeleFile (thousands)(8) 8. Customer Satisfaction (9) a. Toll-Free b. Automated Collection System c. Service Center Examination d. Field and Office Examination e. Appeals f. Field Collection g. Walk–In h. EO Determination i. EP Determination j. EO Examination k. EP Examination (3) Baseline (5) 85% (6) Baseline 98% 20.9 6.6 1,146.1 Baseline Baseline Baseline Baseline Baseline Baseline Baseline Baseline Baseline Baseline Baseline 53.3% 74.1% 83.2% 99.6% 21.2 5.7 915.7 6.2 5.9 3.9 4.1 4.44 3.9 6.4 5.3 5.5 5.5 5.4 (4) 70% 93.8% (7) 85.5% 98.7% 17.7 5.96 581.9 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Footnotes (1) As noted above, the performance information presented in this section as “goals” was part of the FY 2001 OMB Budget Submission. The subsequent Congressional Budget Justification renamed these goals as, “IRS Measures Related to High Impact Agency Goals” and will be referred to as such in future reports. (2)This measure has been changed from Level of Access to Level of Service. (3)Toll Free Level of Service –FY 1999 was listed as a baseline year in the FY 2000 Congressional Justification because this is a quantity measure. The Regulation concerning the use of quantity measures was not issued until September 1999. (4)The FY 1998 performance is included for comparison purposes. (5)Starting in FY 1999, Tax Law Accuracy has been generated by the Centralized Quality Review System (CQRS), a more comprehensive quality review system than the Integrated Test Call Survey System (ITCSS) used in prior years. CORS results are more indicative of the quality of IRS response to tax law inquiries than the ITCSS. CQRS reviews are performed on live taxpayer inquiries in their entirety; ITCSS was designed to test only one aspect of a tax law topic. (6)The methodology for calculating this measure changed in the first quarter of FY 1999,therefore, the FY 2000 Congressional Justification showed FY 1999 to be the “Baseline” year. (7)The FY 1998 results were recalculated for comparison purposes. (8)This measure reflects fiscal year numbers for all years except for the FY 1999 Plan, which was a calendar year projection. (9)All scores are on a 7 point scale with “1” being very dissatisfied and “7” being very satisfied and are based on surveys of calendar year 1998 activities. N/A: Not Applicable This is trial version www.adultpdf.com . of a tax law topic. (6 )The methodology for calculating this measure changed in the first quarter of FY 1999,therefore, the FY 2000 Congressional Justification showed FY 1999 to be the “Baseline” year. (7 )The. indicative of the quality of IRS response to tax law inquiries than the ITCSS. CQRS reviews are performed on live taxpayer inquiries in their entirety; ITCSS was designed to test only one aspect of a. Related to High Impact Agency Goals” and will be referred to as such in future reports. (2)This measure has been changed from Level of Access to Level of Service. (3)Toll Free Level of Service