US Senators Investigate ID Theft And Tax Fraud

US Senators Investigate ID Theft And Tax Fraud, by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York 30 August 2007

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Republican Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are asking the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the growing problem of tax fraud related to identity theft, and how it contributes to the tax gap.

The Senators’ letter to David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the GAO, is aimed at identifying what procedures the IRS currently follows to curb identity theft and subsequent tax fraud, and how these measures can be improved.

Portions of the tax gap strategy crafted by the Treasury at Baucus’s request include efforts to fight tax fraud. The Senators said on Tuesday that tackling identity theft must be an integral part of the Department’s effort to stop legally owed taxes from going unpaid.

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