IRS Targeting of Service Center Audits
Low versus High Income Taxpayers

	Individuals
	Low		High
	1992	2001	1992	2001
Audit Rate (%)	0.40	0.78	2.38	0.31
Ave. Tax Recommended	$2,471	$2,577	$4,569	$4,567
Ave. Audit Hours	*0.9	1.5	*2.4	1.8
Number of Audits	171,864	325,441	74,566	29,086
Number of Returns Filed	43,183,245	41,716,770	3,131,801	9,326,250

	Businesses (Schedule C)
	Low		High
	1992	2001	1992	2001
Audit Rate (%)	0.48	2.13	0.81	0.28
Ave. Tax Recommended	$1,028	$1,723	$3,667	$3,814
Ave. Audit Hours	*1.3	2.4	*2.5	2.0
Number of Audits	10,207	54,316	12,743	5,556
Number of Returns Filed	2,139,507	2,553,280	1,579,644	2,012,210

*1993 figure since 1992 unavailable.
Note: Low income individuals have total positive income <$25,000 and file simple returns, while high income report $100,000 or more. Similarly Schedule C filers have <$25,000 (low) or $100,000 or more (high) total gross receipts.

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, Syracuse University
Copyright, 2002