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GAO-02-380R 1 (2002-02-15)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptaoot0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 



  SGAO

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


         February 15, 2002


         The Honorable Kenneth M. Mead
         Inspector General
         Department of Transportation
         Subject: Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Airport and Airway 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 Airport and Airway
         Trust Fund (AATF) 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 AATF.

         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 AATF, (2) review of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS)
         quarterly AATF certifications, (3) review of the Department of the Treasury Financial
         Management Service (FMS) adjustments to AATF for fiscal year 2001, (4) review of
         certain procedures in the Office of Tax Analysis's (OTA) process for estimating
         amounts to be distributed to AATF for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2001, (5)
         comparison of net excise tax distributions to AATF during fiscal year 2001 and
         amounts reported in the financial statements prepared by the Bureau of the Public
         Debt (BPD) for AATF and the Federal Aviation Administration's consolidated
         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


GAO-02-380R Airport and Airway Trust Fund Excise Tax Procedures