IRS Chief: Fewer Audits To Be Conducted This Year Due To Budget Cuts

Good news for many, especially those in the higher tax brackets - IRS Chief John Koskinen revealed earlier today that the IRS is expected to conduct fewer audits this year as a result of recent budget cuts.

The Internal Revenue Service's budget has been cut by $526 million to $11.9 billion for the 2014 fiscal year, a decline of 4%. These cuts, according to Koskinen, will have "negative implications for taxpayers and the tax system", as fewer audits will be conducted by the agency as a result.

According to reports, the total number of audits in the country declined by 5% in the 2013 fiscal year, and that number is expected to fall even further in FY2014. Koskinen estimated that 100,000 fewer individuals will be audited during the 2014 fiscal year, while audits of businesses and partnerships will also drop.

Koskinen warned that the drop in audits as a result of the budget cuts will result in the country losing approximately $3 billion in revenue.

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According to the IRS, 1,558,057 (0.8%) tax returns were examined in 2013. Of that total, 1,091,964 were conducted by correspondence (mail), while another 466,093 were field audits (in person).

Koskinen pointed out that every income group and entity type (business, partnership, etc) will see less audits - even the super high net worth individuals and multi-billion dollar corporations.

What do you think of these cuts?

Source: USAToday.com - IRS: Fewer Audits Mean $3B in Lost Tax Revenue

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