Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the: (1) Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) fiscal year (FY) 1988 budget provisions for the Communications Replacement System and its Tax System Redesign; and (2) amount IRS has already spent on those projects.
GAO found that: (1) IRS plans to spend about $150 million on the Communications Replacement System through 1993; (2) IRS estimates that it will obligate less than it originally planned for the system through 1988; (3) the budget estimate changed because a successful bid protest forced IRS to make award to a higher-priced bidder; and (4) IRS expects to have the system installed about 1 year later than originally scheduled. GAO also found that: (1) IRS estimates that it will spend billions of dollars over the lifetime of its redesigned tax system; (2) for FY 1982 through 1988, IRS estimated obligations of $83.6 million for the redesign, but actually obligated only about $71 million; and (3) the redesign estimates changed because IRS repeatedly changed its redesign strategy.
