Gunster tax attorney Martin Press spoke to Forbes writer Ashlea Ebeling recently for an article about the increase in IRS audits via correspondence (rather than in person), especially for high-income taxpayers.
According to the article, the likelihood of an in-person IRS audit is trending downward – but correspondence audits (via mail) are up a whopping 34 percent. And high-income earners are more likely to be audited overall, the article continues: they have a 10 percent chance of audit, compared to a less-than-1-percent chance for those earning $200,000 or less.
Those odds are not good for high-income earners, Press indicates in the article.
Money is the likely motivator, Forbes’ Ebeling writes. By going after high-earners and favoring correspondence audits over in-person audits, the IRS stands to maximize what it brings in, as well as what it saves on staff time and cost.
And yet those correspondence audits can be daunting; Ebeling provides an example of the time and elaborate effort involved in one such case – and discusses what may trigger such an audit.
Expecting an audit as you prepare your tax return is a good place to start, Press tells Ebeling in the article.
Read the entire article: IRS audited 1 in 10 $1M+ earners in 2015; correspondence audits up by 1/3 (Forbes, 2/25/16)
Press was the first Florida Bar board-certified tax attorney in the state of Florida. He is a member of the firm’s tax law practice and works in Gunster’s Fort Lauderdale office.
