Page 1 GAO-25-107966 Civil Monetary Penalties
April 30, 2025
The Honorable Charles E. Grassley
Chairman
The Honorable Richard J. Durbin
Ranking Member
Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate
The Honorable Jim Jordan
Chairman
The Honorable Jamie Raskin
Ranking Member
Committee on the Judiciary
House of Representatives
Civil Monetary Penalties: Federal Agencies’ Compliance with the 2024 Annual Inflation
Adjustment Requirements
Civil monetary penalties provide federal agencies with the ability to punish willful and egregious
violators, deter future violations, and enforce regulatory policies government-wide. However, the
penalties may lose their effectiveness, and the government may lose opportunities to collect
significant receipts, if agencies do not periodically adjust them to account for inflation. Congress
enacted the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (IAA)
1
to allow agencies to
adjust their covered civil monetary penalties for inflation, promote compliance, and improve
penalty collection.
2
The act, as amended,
3
includes a provision added in 2015 for GAO to
submit a report annually to Congress assessing agency compliance with the required civil
monetary penalty adjustments.
4
1
Pub. L. No. 101-410, 104 Stat. 890 (Oct. 5, 1990).
2
The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act,
Pub. L. No. 104-134, § 31001(s)(1), 110 Stat. 1321–373 (Apr. 26, 1996), and the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation
Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, Pub. L. No. 114-74, title VII, § 701, 129 Stat. 584, 599–601 (Nov. 2,
2015), is referred to as the Inflation Adjustment Act, or the IAA, and is codified, as amended, at 28 U.S.C. § 2461
note. The IAA defines a civil monetary penalty as any penalty, fine, or other sanction that is (1) for a specific
monetary amount or has a maximum amount, provided for by federal law; (2) assessed or enforced by an agency
pursuant to federal law; and (3) assessed or enforced by an agency in an administrative proceeding or a civil action in
the federal courts.
3
IAA amendments in 2015 made the penalties under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and the Social
Security Act subject to the inflation adjustment requirements, although those under the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 and the Tariff Act of 1930 remain excluded from coverage.
4
We reported on the results of our review of agencies’ compliance with the 2023 annual inflation adjustment of the
civil monetary penalty amounts as the IAA requires in GAO, Civil Monetary Penalties: Federal Agencies’ Compliance
with the 2023 Annual Inflation Adjustment Requirements, GAO-24-107193 (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 18, 2024).
