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GAO-02-379R 1 (2002-02-11)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptaoos0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 



  SGAO

       Accountability * Integrity * Reliability
United States General Accounting Office
Washington, DC 20548



         February 11, 2002


         The Honorable Kenneth M. Mead
         Inspector General
         Department of Transportation

         Subject: Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Highway Trust Fund Excise Taxes

         Dear Mr. Mead:

         We have performed the procedures contained in the enclosure to this letter, which
         we agreed to perform and with which you concurred, solely to assist your office in
         ascertaining whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Highway Trust
         Fund (HTF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2001, is supported by the
         underlying records. As agreed with your office, we evaluated fiscal year 2001 activity
         affecting distributions to HTF.

         In performing the agreed-upon procedures, we conducted our work in accordance
         with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, which incorporate
         financial audit and attestation standards established by the American Institute of
         Certified Public Accountants. These standards also provide guidance when
         performing and reporting the results of agreed-upon procedures.

         The adequacy of the procedures to meet your objectives is your responsibility, and
         we make no representation in that respect. The procedures we agreed to perform
         include (1) detailed tests of transactions that represent the underlying basis of
         amounts distributed to HTF, (2) review of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS)
         quarterly HTF certifications, (3) review of the Department of the Treasury Financial
         Management Service adjustments to HTF for fiscal year 2001, (4) review of certain
         procedures in the Office of Tax Analysis's process for estimating amounts to be
         distributed to HTF for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2001, (5) comparison of net
         excise tax distributions to HTF during fiscal year 2001 and amounts reported in the
         financial statements prepared by the Bureau of the Public Debt for HTF and HTF's
         financial statements, and (6) review of key reconciliations of IRS records to Treasury
         records. The enclosure contains the agreed-upon procedures and our findings from
         performing each of the procedures.

         We were not engaged to perform, and did not perform, an audit, the objective of
         which would have been to express an opinion on the amount of net excise taxes
         distributed to HTF. Accordingly, we do not express such an opinion. Had we


GAO-02-379R Highway Trust Fund Excise Tax Procedures