HOUSTON BUSINESS REVIEW

THE CPA CORNER: OUR US BUDGET ASKS FOR INCREASED IRS FUNDING…
By C. Kevin Moore

Kevin Moore is a Principal of C. Kevin Moore & Associates and has two decades of experience as a Certified Public Accountant. Each week he provides the information you need to grow and protect your business.

Congress was asked for more money to catch tax evaders and scrutinize tax returns in his fiscal year 2006 budget sent to lawmakers Monday.

The budget is asking Congress for $10.7 billion to fund the Internal Revenue Service, including an extra $500 million for IRS enforcement activities like collecting past due taxes. It is a 7.8 percent increase in enforcement funding over last year's levels. The treasury department says “investing in enforcement is proven to increase revenues as well as long-term compliance.”

Also included in our current budget request is a 2.3 percent increase for money from Congress to fight money laundering and enforce a bank secrecy act… asking for $73.6 million to fund the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

The budget requests more than $118 million to fight the financial war on terror and financial crime.

The Treasury's total budget for fiscal 2006 is $11.6 billion, a 3.8 percent increase over 2005 levels.

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