**GAO-03-394**                      Published: Feb 14, 2003. Publicly Released: Mar 17, 2003.                  

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## Highlights

Section 1203 of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 outlines conditions for firing IRS employees for any of 10 acts of misconduct covering taxpayer and employee rights and tax return filing requirements. Both IRS and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) have responsibilities related to section 1203. Because of concerns that section 1203 may have a chilling effect on IRS enforcement staff's productivity, GAO (1) determined the number of section 1203 allegations, (2) surveyed IRS employee perceptions about section 1203, and (3) identified problems IRS and TIGTA face in processing section 1203 cases and the extent to which they have addressed them.

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## Topics

Tax Policy and Administration

Employee rightsEvaluation methodsMalfeasancePerformance appraisalPerformance measuresSurveysTax administrationEmployee misconductTaxpayersTax compliance