A Government Accountability Office report says unaddressed weaknesses in federal internal controls over financial reporting have prevented the agency from giving an opinion on the government’s annual financial statement.
GAO said Wednesday it observed that the government is still unable to adequately reconcile many intragovernmental transactions and balances among agencies and that financial management challenges continue to plague the Defense Department.
“Both the long-term fiscal projections included in the governmentwide financial statements and GAO’s own recent long-term fiscal simulations show that, absent policy changes, the federal government continues to face an unsustainable long-term fiscal path,” the agency noted.
According to the report, the federal government has issued more than $1 trillion in improper payments since fiscal year 2003 and generated an estimated an annual tax gap of $385 billion.
GAO said it believes that continued oversight by the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget as well as strong commitment by all agencies are key to address federal financial management challenges.