• Treasury, IRS Release Report on Improving Voluntary
  Compliance
• Lawmakers Call For Increased Minority Ad Contracts
• Quick Look: Long-Term Care Insurance Bill

Treasury, IRS Release Report on Improving Voluntary Compliance

The following article excerpt comes to you courtesy of the communication and education team at the Internal Revenue Service. For additional tax information, visit http://www.irs.gov or http://taxtalk.nase.org. The IRS report, “Reducing the Federal Tax Gap: A Report on Improving Voluntary Compliance,” details steps currently being taken by the IRS, as well as those under development, to address key elements of the “tax gap.” The report builds on the seven components of the “Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing the Tax Gap” which the Treasury Department released in September 2006. Those components are reducing opportunities for evasion; making a multi-year commitment to research; continuing improvements in information technology; improving compliance activities; enhancing taxpayer service; reforming and simplifying the tax law; and coordinating with partners and stakeholders. Detailed information is provided on each step currently being taken to reduce opportunities for tax evasion, leverage technology and support legislative proposals that, as implemented, will improve compliance. At the same time, the report reaffirms that taxpayer rights must be respected and burdens on compliant taxpayers must be minimized. The report also presents an outreach approach to ensure all taxpayers understand their tax obligations. Additionally, it recognizes the importance of having a multi-year research program that will assist in understanding both the scope of and reasons for noncompliance.

Lawmakers Call For Increased Minority Ad Contracts In joint letters to the Defense and Treasury Departments, House and Senate Democrats scolded the agencies for a dismal record of utilizing advertising businesses owned by minorities and other typically disadvantaged groups. According to a report recently release by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Defense Department awarded minority advertising firms only 1.8 percent of contract dollars and paid them on average nearly 84 percent less per contract than majority firms. The Treasury Department awarded only 1.9 percent of contract dollars and paid nearly 47 percent less. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.), senior Senate Judiciary Committee member Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Congressional Black Caucus Chair, Representative Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) also asked the government agencies to submit a plan for increasing minority advertising contracts and pay. “This report shines a spotlight on the federal government’s failure to make equal opportunity a reality, not just rhetoric. The Defense and Treasury Departments are woefully behind the curve. Awarding less than two percent of advertising contract dollars to minority-owned and disadvantaged firms is unacceptable and this report must be a wake up call. My Committee will keep up the pressure and stay on top of this until these agencies drastically improve their contracting practices,” said Senator Kerry. As part of the GAO report, three other government agencies were also reviewed, which all spent more advertising dollars with minority firms: Health and Human Services Department (24.6 percent), Interior Department (6.4 percent), and NASA (88.9 percent). To read more about the report, visit http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07877high.pdf.   Quick Look: Long-Term Care Insurance Bill   A new bill being introduced in the House by Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., would allow long-term care insurance premiums to be paid with pre-tax dollars. Among Americans who are now 65, nursing homes will provide care for 44 percent of them, according to a statement released by Rep. Pomeroy. It also stated that, if three quarters of individuals between the ages of 40 and 65, who can afford long-term care insurance, were to purchase and maintain policies throughout their senior years, the annual savings in Medicaid nursing home expenses would total $19 billion, and annual savings in out-of-pocket expenses would total $41 billion by 2030. The proposal would allow the pre-tax purchase because it seeks to permit long-term care insurance to be included in employer-sponsored cafeteria plans and flexible spending accounts. Share your experiences as a micro-business owner! Sound off on key legislative issues and get some free publicity for your business in the process by becoming a media contact. Visit www.NASE.org/mediarelations/contactsheet.asp to fill out an informational sheet on the background of your business. Then, send it back to us at the contact information listed on the sheet. If getting involved in the legislative process suits you better, go to the Advocacy page and “Tell Your Story” (http://advocacy.nase.org/issues/issues.asp). You have the option of allowing the NASE to share your micro-business story with your Members of Congress. By allowing the NASE to tell your story to legislators, you can play a vital role in illustrating the real life consequences and affects of issues they debate on a daily basis.