1949 - Internal Revenue Service
1949 - Internal Revenue Service
1949 - Internal Revenue Service
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12<br />
REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE<br />
The Planning Division was expanded with a view to more nearly<br />
conforming its size to the increasing responsibilities devolving upon it<br />
in connection with the decentralization program and the implementation<br />
of the recommendations made by the management engineering<br />
firm which surveyed a number of representative collectors' offices<br />
during the year. Successful pilot installations conducted under the<br />
direction of the division led to the delegation to all collectors of<br />
responsibility for adjusting special employment tax refund claims not<br />
in excess of $1,000, and paved the way for adoption on a national scale,<br />
effective with the quarter beginning January 1, 1950, of a combined<br />
return form for use in reporting both income tax collected at source<br />
on wages and taxes under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act.<br />
Other tests, stemming from the engineers' recommendations, will be<br />
undertaken on a wide scale beginning January 1, 1950. One of these<br />
experiments which will be viewed with particular interest will be to<br />
determine the feasibility of using ledger cards in lieu of assessment<br />
sheets to permit the grouping of all tax accounts receivable of the<br />
same taxpayer. A number of different types of remittance control<br />
machines, cash registering devices, and other labor-saving equipment<br />
endorsed by the engineers also will be tested and a further trial of<br />
tabulating procedures and equipment will be conducted. Other<br />
recommendations of the engineers with respect to forms design,<br />
staffing standards, verification of income and prepayment credits, and<br />
taxpayer education are receiving continuing study.<br />
In administering the personnel of the several collection districts,<br />
the provisions of the Classification Act of 1923 and amendatory Acts,<br />
and decisions of the Comptroller General relating thereto, have been<br />
closely adhered to. The policy has been continued of making such<br />
appointments as have been authorized in the field collection service at<br />
the minimum salary rate of the appropriate grade, and all applications<br />
for positions have been carefully scrutinized and investigated with a<br />
view of maintaining the usual high standard of requirement for<br />
employment.<br />
The Disbursement Accounting Division administratively examined<br />
and recorded 1,568 monthly accounts of the collectors of internal<br />
revenue, internal revenue agents in charge, district supervisors, heads<br />
of Technical Staff Divisions, foreign account (Paris, France), including<br />
the San Juan, Puerto Rico Branch of the District of Maryland, comprising<br />
a total of 145,350 vouchers. In addition, 12,514 travel expense<br />
vouchers of employees and 23,295 vouchers covering passenger and<br />
freight transportation and miscellaneous expenses were audited and<br />
passed to the Chief Disbursing Officer, Treasury Department, or to<br />
the General Accounting Office for payment, making a total of 181,159<br />
vouchers handled during the <strong>1949</strong> fiscal year.<br />
EMPLOYMENT TAX UNIT<br />
The Employment Tax Unit administers the employment taxes<br />
imposed under Subchapters A, B, and C of Chapter 9 of the <strong>Internal</strong><br />
<strong>Revenue</strong> Code. Subchapter A (Federal Insurance Contributions<br />
Act) relates to the taxes with respect to employment by persons other<br />
than carriers; Subchapter B (Railroad Retirement Tax Act) relates to<br />
the taxes with respect to employment by carriers; and Subchapter C<br />
REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE 13<br />
(Federal Unemployment Tax Act) relates to the tax on employers<br />
(other than carriers) of eight or more individuals. These provisions<br />
of law were formerly Titles VIII and IX of the Social Security Act and<br />
the Carriers Taxing Act of 1937.<br />
Collections of employment taxes for the fiscal year <strong>1949</strong> were<br />
$2,476,112,762, an increase of $94,770,409 compared with collections<br />
for the preceding year.<br />
Assessments of employment taxes.—During the year, 5,617 assessment<br />
lists, consisting of 13,617,219 items totaling $3,125,026,287, an<br />
increase of $1,021,937,308 over the previous year, were approved by<br />
the Commissioner. These lists included original and additional<br />
assessments of employment taxes. Included in this total were 2,114<br />
lists prepared by the collectors' offices and adjusted by the Bureau,<br />
consisting of 13,583,302 items totaling $3,118,479,816, and 3,503 lists<br />
prepared in the Bureau, consisting of 33,917 items totaling $6,546,471,<br />
as further analyzed in the following tabulations:<br />
Analysis of employment tax assessments appearing on collectors' lists<br />
Source Items Tax and penalty Interest Total<br />
Federal Insurance Contributions Act___<br />
Federal Unemployment Tax Act<br />
Railroad Retirement Tax Act<br />
Total<br />
12, 914, 563<br />
940, 555<br />
28,184<br />
22, 152,841, 198. 99<br />
279,668,691. 65<br />
684, 873,652.88<br />
2736,943. 14<br />
319, 553.46<br />
9, 736.20<br />
$2, 153, 678, 182. 13<br />
280,018, 245.11<br />
684, 883,389.08<br />
13, 583, 302 3, 117,383, 543. 52 1, 096, 272.80 3, 118,479, 816.32<br />
Analysis of employment tax assessments appearing on Commissioner's lists<br />
Source Items Tax Penalty Interest Total<br />
Federal Insurance Contributions Act__ 9,125 $927, 403.44 $203, 598.07 $58, 291.32 $1,194. 292.83<br />
Federal Unemployment Tax Act 24, 749 4,619,280. 83 351,216. 54 377, 769.54 5,348, 266.91<br />
Railroad Retirement Tax Act 43 2, 572.16 49.96 1, 288. 75 3, 910.87<br />
Total 33, 917 5, 549, 256.43 569,864. 57 437,349.61 6, 546, 470.61<br />
Taxes under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act.—Collections<br />
of taxes imposed under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act<br />
amounted to $1,687,150,996 for the year, as compared with $1,612,-<br />
720,919 for 1948, an increase of $74,430,077. These amounts include<br />
both the employees' tax and the employers' tax, each of which was<br />
imposed at the rate of 1 percent of taxable wages paid. Returns<br />
under the Act are required on a quarterly basis, 11,282,734 being filed<br />
during the fiscal year, as compared with 10,680,002 filed in the preceding<br />
year. The complete and final audit of returns under the Act<br />
is conducted in the offices of collectors of internal revenue.<br />
The following table sets forth information relative to claims disposed<br />
of under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act and/or Title VIII<br />
of the Social Security Act: