Just 2% of the richest Americans had their taxes audited in 2019, down from 16% in 2010 [View all]

The wealthiest Americans are getting their taxes audited at a far lower rate than they were over a decade ago, due in large part to staff and funding shortages at the Internal Revenue Service, according to a new report.

The audit rate for Americans earning more than $5 million a year plunged to just over 2% in 2019 from over 16% in 2010, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog. That means only about 1 in 50 high earners were audited in 2019, compared with about 1 in 6 in 2010.

The decline in audits, especially among the wealthy, has become a heated political issue in Washington. The report estimated that taxpayers underreported their income tax by a combined $245 billion a year between 2011 and 2013, and said that “taxpayers are more likely to voluntarily comply with the tax laws if they believe their return may be audited.”

The main reason for the decline, according to the report, is a lack of IRS funding. In fiscal year 2021, the agency’s budget was $11.9 billion — $200 million less than its 2010 budget.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/17/super-wealthy-irs-tax-audits-plunge-over-decade-government-report-says.html

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