When in doubt, take the deduction. Give yourself the benefit of any doubt. Doing my Taxes
April 12, 1999
IRS Performs Fewer Audits Than in 'Heavy-Handed' Past
By JACOB M. SCHLESINGER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
WASHINGTON -- Here's some news to take the edge off this week's looming tax-filing deadline: The Internal Revenue Service is cutting back sharply on the number of returns it audits.
After years of budget-cutting and widespread accusations of heavy-handed enforcement, the tax agency audited 20% fewer returns in the fiscal year ended last Sept. 30 than it had the year before: 1.2 million vs. 1.5 million. The percentage of returns audited dropped to 0.99% from 1.28% the prior year, the lowest level since 1993.
The decline was even more dramatic in the much-dreaded "face-to-face" audits, those conducted in person at IRS offices or at a taxpayer's home or place of business. Only 0.46% of the 120.3 million Americans who filed returns had that experience in fiscal 1998. That was down from 0.60% of those who filed in fiscal 1997, and the lowest proportion on record, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC. The group, affiliated with Syracuse University, specializes in analyzing federal law-enforcement data.
The IRS says the downward trend is likely to continue, at least for the tax returns millions of Americans are hustling to file by Thursday. "The audit coverage rate will continue to decline in 1999 from 1998 levels," said Thomas Smith, the IRS executive recently put in charge of "customer satisfaction" monitoring. "We're continuing to stress education and outreach other than straight enforcement in how we utilize our resources," he added.
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