Tax departments' concerns: getting it right: survey results paint a very different picture of businesses' top tax priorities than government regulators or congressional lawmakers.

• Position: Internal Revenue Service

An overwhelming majority of senior financial executives say their tax department's top priority is not tax savings or their effective rate, but timely and accurate tax return and financial reporting. Grant Thornton LLP reported this finding in a press release issued on May 26, 2010. The finding is based on the results of a national survey of CFOs and senior comptrollers conducted by the firm.

"The survey confirms what we've known for a long time," said Randy Robason, Grant Thornton's national partner in charge of Tax Accounting and Risk Advisory services. "Businesses don't want to pay any more than they have to, but their first priority is always getting it right."

Congress and the IRS recently have taken far-reaching steps to beef up compliance tools for what they see as too much aggressive tax planning. The IRS is currently developing a tax return schedule that will force large corporations to list and disclose detailed information on any tax position that meets the IRS definition of uncertain. And Congress just passed legislation that changes the rules and dramatically increases penalties for transactions that "lack economic...