A few years ago, the IRS came under fire
for lowering the number of audits they were performing. Audits of wealthy individuals
were
down to only half the level of 1992. Total corporate audits were decreasing as well and the
total number of experienced auditors was down significantly from prior years.
Does this mean you can relax? Well....perhaps. The number of audits can
and will increase quickly again if Congress begins to notice a significant drop in revenue
projections as a result of suspected tax evasion.
One contributing factor in the audit
decline that many critics tend to overlook is the tax simplification measures taken a few
years ago. Whether the Code was actually simplified is open to debate, but many of the
loopholes and tax shelters that proliferated in the 1980's were indeed eliminated. |