Summary: In the three-year period ending September 1992, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) executives were relocated 122 times at a cost of $60,000 for each relocation. IRS procedures require consideration of lower cost alternatives for long-term travel associated with temporary duty assignments exceeding two months. GAO reviewed long-term travel assignments made at four IRS offices during fiscal year 1992. In these cases, officials who authorized the travel said that less costly alternatives were considered. GAO's sample of 67 meetings and conferences held at nongovernmental facilities during fiscal year 1992 showed that site selections generally met federal requirements. In 1993, IRS reviewed its procedures on selection of meeting and conference sites to restrict the use of nongovernmental facilities for these activities. The revisions responded to the Treasury Department Inspector General's conclusion that IRS was not adequately managing the selection of nongovernmental facilities for such activities. IRS has encouraged the use of modern technology to cut travel costs and estimated that IRS saved nearly $3 million in travel expenses from January to July 1993 by using videoconferencing. IRS officials said that IRS continues to assess its strategies to take advantage of emerging telecommunications technology.
