IRS reports audits up 21 percent

[NoodleyAppendage]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Just over 1.2 million individual income tax returns were audited in fiscal year 2005, according to a report released late Friday afternoon by the Internal Revenue Service.

That represents a 21 percent increase from a year earlier. That follows a 19 percent increase in audits in 2004.

The IRS also noted that the number of audits of high-income taxpayers -- defined as those with income of $100,000 or more -- reached 219,208, the highest figure in 10 years.

A table detailing individual return audits showed that the income groups with the highest percentage of audits were taxpayers who reported income under $25,000 and taxpayers who reported income between $100,000 and $200,000. Approximately 1.5 percent of returns reporting income under $25,000 were audited; while 1.41 percent of returns reporting income between $100,000 and $200,000 were audited.

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So, people hovering above the poverty line are a target for the IRS. Talk about a "f^ck the poor" mentality.

J

[951-Riverside]

1. People are more outspoken against King George ya know

[NanceGreggs]

2. Why bother going after someone who might legitimately owe ..

... thousands, when you can squeeze another five bucks or so out of a single mom with a couple of kids, who's holding down three jobs just to make ends meet?

Hey, it's not like the country NEEDS the money, right? We just raised the debt ceiling yet again - so let's waste our time going after nickels and dimes, while the newly-made billionaires laugh all the way to their off-shore banks.

[FloridaPat]

3. The IRS claims there are billions in taxes not paid. Yet, H&R Block

ads for income service claims that people aren't taking billions of exemptions they deserve. The IRS would get the most money from auditing corporations. But we all know how that would go over with the corporate congress and *

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. This is one of those classic IRS scare stories that they plant each year

to scare the taxpayers.

[bluestateguy]

5. The war machine needs its money

And lower income people can't pay a $300 an hour tax attorney to fight the charges that a person making $200,000 can pay. The IRS knows this, and their little peckerhead agents audit accordingly.

I seem to remember that Republicans used to be apoplectic over IRS tyranny, but that was during the Clinton Administration (when the % of audits was far lower).

[Psephos]

6. They go after those who report low income to suss out those who hide $$

Read the article more closely; audits on high earners are much more frequent now.

When IRS audits lower-income returns, they're not trying to squeeze poor people, they're trying to find wealthier people who under-report. Typically, this is done by small business owners who write off almost everything as a business expense, and end up with a small income reported on paper. If IRS didn't audit these lower-bracket returns, they'd become a haven for under-reporters.

IRS has little interest in wage earners (people who file a W2) in low brackets. More than 95% of income tax is paid by those in the top 50% of earners.

I don't like the IRS anymore than the next person, but this faux outrage is not reasonable.

Peace.

[wickerwoman]

7. Are we reading the same story?

It says two lines above the part you highlighted that the number of audits of high-income taxpayers was the highest in 10 years.

Also keep going- the sentence is "income under $25,000 AND between $100,000 to $200,000." And I suspect that as a percentage of total taxpayers that works out about equal.

Yep, a real "fuck the poor" mentality there.

I know a lot of people who work for the IRS. They're people just like you and me. Many of them are liberals. A lot of them hate their jobs. But if we got rid of the IRS I bet there would be a hell of a lot more complaining about the lack of roads, police, fire departments, etc.

[intheozone]

8. I'm not sure, but the under 25K group

probably includes a lot of returns showing large business or farm incomes that are reduced to under $25K by business expenses on the Sch. C or Sch F. These types of filers can take over $100K in gross income and reduce to little or no adjusted gross income or even a loss for the year. They are known to deduct all kinds of phony expenses to reduce the taxable income. I have seen them deduct the cost of their kids weddings, spouse's travel expenses that are reimbursed by spouse's employer, the cost of their everyday clothing and dry cleaning, the country club dues, all their meals, and on and on. These taxpayers play audit roulette! So, ya', they need to be audited now and again.

[supernova]

9. I'd say a good portion of working poor

in this category are eilgible for the E-Z form, which is very simple.

So, I'd like to see a further refinement in the question to say, how many people using the E-Z form and making 25 grand or less where audited last year? edit: I bet with answering that question, you'd get a good yardstick about how often the working poor are getting audited compared to other groups.

Nevermind that sometimes the whole process is too complicated and there are probably just as many people who could use the E-Z form who don't know about it, so they don't use it.

[wordpix2]

10. my single mom friend was audited when she made $8/hr & it was a nightmare

The IRS was totally harassing her. I guess they couldn't believe that someone with such a low income was able to support a child, even with the pittance she got for child support. She had to hire a lawyer and of course, it turned out she had done nothing wrong (she just knows how to get by living in a rural area and growing a garden) but it took her about a year to get the IRS to stop harassing her.

Why doesn't the IRS go after the robber barons and CEOs who make millions while laying off their workers?