Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) implementation of the Earned Income Credit (EIC) recertification requirement, focusing on the purpose of certain form letters that IRS has been sending to taxpayers in conjunction with this recertification process.

GAO noted that: (1) some of the correspondence IRS has been sending taxpayers in conjunction with the EIC recertification process could confuse taxpayers and result in additional burden for taxpayers and IRS; and (2) specifically: (a) a letter that IRS uses to tell taxpayers that it has disallowed their EIC claim contains irrelevant information that could cause taxpayers to not file a claim to which they might be entitled or to call IRS seeking clarification; (b) two letters that IRS uses to correspond with taxpayers who have submitted information in an attempt to certify their eligibility for the EIC contain inconsistent information on the length of time taxpayers will have to wait to receive their refunds; and (c) a letter and form that IRS uses to tell taxpayers that it needs additional information to verify their EIC eligibility could burden taxpayers by causing them to send IRS much more documentation than called for by IRS' operation procedures.