Fixing fewer than half of the overlapping or duplicated government programs a congressional watchdog has identified over the past four years has saved taxpayers more than $20 billion.
Government officials would prevent another $80 billion from being wasted if they put in place the remaining suggestions published by the Government Accountability Office in its five total years of producing the annual duplication report, which details hundreds of different federal programs that needlessly perform the same functions.
For example, at least 20 federal agencies oversee consumer product safety in some form, but none have the ability to address all safety issues.
Similarly, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture inspect the same laboratories for the same hazards.
One Maryland facility was inspected eight separate times by both the EPA and USDA between 2005 and 2012, the report said.
Another major drain on federal funds comes from uncollected taxes at the Internal Revenue Service, which sees $385 billion lost each year.
“Even small changes in IRS’ enforcement programs could result in hundreds of millions of dollars of increased revenue,” the report said.
Eugene Dodaro, the comptroller general, highlighted waste in the tax agency during a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
Although the IRS has complained in recent weeks that budget cuts have hamstrung its efforts to collect taxes this season, Dodaro said pouring more money into the agency is not necessarily the solution.
“We’ve suggested Congress look at ways the IRS can more effectively use the resources that they have,” Dodaro said.
Dodaro suggested a number of government-wide policy tweaks that could close cracks in the tax agency’s collection operation, such as preventing tax delinquents from obtaining passports.
A 2012 Office of Management and Budget study discovered simply denying passports to certain federal tax evaders could alone save $500 million over five years.
Go here to read the full Government Accountability Office report.
