June 3, 2009
On June 3, 2009, TEI President Vincent Alicandri sent the following letter to Representatives John Lewis and Charles Boustany, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee, concerning the Internal Revenue Service’s budget for fiscal year 2010 (which begins on October 1).
On behalf of Tax Executives Institute, I urge the Congress to ensure that the Internal Revenue Service receives adequate funding for its fiscal year 2010 operations in order to enable the appropriate balance between its service and enforcement activities.
TEI’s 7,000 members are accountants, attorneys and other business professionals who work for 3,200 of the largest companies in United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. TEI’s members work on tax issues, and with the IRS, on a daily basis. They are responsible for conducting the tax affairs of their companies and ensuring compliance with the tax laws. TEI is dedicated to the development and effective implementation of sound tax policy, to promoting the uniform and equitable enforcement of the tax laws, and to reducing the cost and burden of administration and compliance to the benefit of taxpayers and government alike.
The Institute is committed to maintaining a tax system that works — one that builds upon the principle of voluntary compliance and is consistent with sound tax policy, one that taxpayers can comply with, and one in which the IRS can effectively perform its audit function without unduly burdening taxpayers. We are proud of our record of working with the Internal Revenue Service and, in particular, its Large and Mid-Size Business Division to ensure compliance while providing taxpayers with the high level of customer service they deserve.
The Obama Administration has proposed an overall IRS FY2010 budget of $12.1 billion, a 5.2-percent increase over 2009 funding levels. The proposal includes increased funding for enforcement programs and essentially level funding for taxpayer service. Specific increases are recommended in respect of international activities, information reporting for flow-thru entities, and document matching for business taxpayers.
Adequate funding is necessary for the IRS to achieve its overarching goals of improving taxpayers’ ability to comply voluntarily with the tax laws by providing top-notch service and ensuring that all are meeting their obli
gation to pay tax by implementing balanced enforcement measures. For the tax system to work effectively, one of these goals cannot be pursued to the exclusion of the other.
Accordingly, TEI supports adequate funding for the IRS — including its recruitment, training, modernization, and enforcement programs. This funding, moreover, should be complemented by appropriate oversight by Congress, the IRS Oversight Board, and the Treasury Department in order to ensure that the increased resources are properly deployed. In particular, given the global marketplace and the current economic downturn, it is critically important that enforcement initiatives be properly focused and that they fully take into account the costs and burdens they impose on compliant taxpayers.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact either Timothy J. McCormally, TEI’s Executive Director, at tmccormally@tei.org or Eli J. Dicker, its Chief Tax Counsel, at edicker@tei.org. Both can be reached at 202.638.5601.