Washington (July 9, 2004) -- J. Russell George, President Bush’s nominee for Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, told the Senate Finance Committee that some of the problems he focused on nearly a decade ago as staff director of the House Government Management subcommittee still exist, and in some cases may even be worse.
During a hearing this week on his nomination, George noted that in 1995, he was asked to examine issues pertaining to the Internal Revenue Service, especially those identified by the General Accounting Office as being at high risk of waste and abuse.
“Among the first issues we reviewed,” he said, were the following: “what was then referred to as the tax systems modernization initiative and is currently referred to as business systems modernization; what is now referred to as the ‘tax gap’ and other compliance issues; and the issue of erroneous and improper payments.”
“As you know, these very same issues which we reviewed nearly a decade ago still persist and in some cases have been exacerbated,” he said. “They will be among the first issues I will focus on if confirmed.”
-- WebCPA staff
