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I.R.S. Audits Are at a Record Low. Trump’s Cuts Could Make Them Even Rarer.

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The Biden plan to increase tax revenue through more enforcement is being reversed.

The Internal Revenue Service’s audit rate has been lower this decade than in most taxpayers’ lifetimes, a New York Times analysis shows, and if the Trump administration follows through with plans to cut the agency’s work force, audits will almost certainly become even rarer.

The most recent I.R.S. data shows the audit rate of individual taxpayers has decreased by about two-thirds since 2010.

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Audit rate of personal income tax returns

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Source: I.R.S. Annual Data Book. Percentage examination coverage calculated for recent years
using the I.R.S. definition that existed until 2019.

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Exact comparisons of audit rates are challenging because the I.R.S. has changed its definitions over time. But the Times analysis of historical I.R.S. data found that the effective audit rates between 2020 and 2023, all under 0.5 percent, were lower than any published audit rate since at least 1950.

In 1980, the agency’s published audit rate was over 2 percent, and in 1960 it was over 3 percent.

In the 2010s, audit rates plunged for all income levels. For most Americans, an audit might have been a one-in-100 event at the beginning of the decade. By the end of the decade, it was even less likely.

Audit rates fell for everyone

Between 2010 and 2019, audit rates were cut substantially for low, middle and high earners.

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$1-$25,000 household income
2010
1.0%
2019
0.4
$25k to $100k
2010
0.6
2019
0.2
$100k to $500k
2010
1.1
2019
0.2
$500k to $10 mil.
2010
5.3
2019
1.0
$10 mil. +
2010
21.5
2019
11.0
Source: I.R.S. Annual Databook. Estimates based on all audits either in-process or closed.
Total positive income considered income.

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Total I.R.S. employees

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Source: I.R.S. Annual Data Book. 2024 estimate based on other news reports.

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