The bad news: Tomorrow is the deadline for federal income taxes. The good news: Chance of getting an IRS audit the lowest in years

The bad news: Tomorrow is the deadline for federal income taxes. The good news: The number of IRS staff auditors is at its lowest point since at least the 1980s

 

Chance of getting an IRS audit the lowest in years

 

As millions of Americans race to meet Tuesday's tax deadline, their chances of getting audited are lower than they have been in years. Budget cuts and new responsibilities are straining the Internal Revenue Service's ability to police tax returns. This year, the IRS will have fewer agents auditing returns than at any time since at least the 1980s.

"We keep going after the people who look like the worst of the bad guys. "But there are going to be some people that we should catch, either in terms of collecting the revenue from them or prosecuting them, that we're not going to catch."

Last year, the IRS audited less than 1 percent of all returns from individuals, the lowest rate since 2005. This year The numbers will go down.

Your chances of getting audited vary greatly, based on your income. The more you make, the more likely you are to get a letter from the IRS.

Only 0.9 percent of people making less than $200,000 were audited last year. That's the lowest rate since the IRS began publishing the statistic in 2006.

By contrast, 10.9 percent of people making $1 million or more were audited. That's the lowest rate since 2010.

Only 0.6 percent of business returns were audited, but the rate varied greatly depending on the size of the business. About 16 percent of corporations with more than $10 million in assets were audited.