An SOI View on Federal Tax Data for Statistical Purposes: Challenges and Possibilities

• Activity Number: 65
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Sunday, August 1, 2010 : 4:00 PM to 5:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Government Statistics
• Author(s): Nicholas Greenia*+
• Companies: IRS
• Keywords: statistical use ; confidentiality ; tax data ; SOI

Abstract

The tax records used to administer the federal tax system are an obvious national treasure for purposes of tax policy analysis and other statistical purposes with their wealth of data on various populations of economic agents. A major consideration guiding the use of tax data for statistical and research purposes is the protection of taxpayer confidentiality, a cornerstone of the voluntary compliance tax system. This paper provides an overview of the rich potential for tax data in statistical use as well as the constraints facing such usage, especially when the data are accessed outside the tax agency. It also discusses the portfolio approach to data dissemination at the tax agency's statistical office, Statistics of Income Division (SOI). Within this context, the paper offers some options on how other federal agencies' statistical needs might be accommodated under current statute.