The Internal Revenue Service collects on average $1.80 in uncollected taxes for every dollar spent when performing audits in-person, the Government Accountability Office has found.According to Fierce Government, correspondence audits conducted through mail bring on average $7 for every dollar spent on those types of audits.
In a report dated Dec. 5 and released Jan. 4, GAO said the IRS could recover lost tax revenue by shifting its auditing resources toward individuals and taxable businesses with incomes of at least $200,000 and that shift would result in greater use of audits by mail.
The IRS’ net estimate of uncollected tax revenue per year is at around $385 billion, David Perera writes.
Reuters reports the IRS conducts correspondence audits represent nearly three-quarters of all tax return audits.
U.S. Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson has said those audits limit interaction between citizens and the IRS, according to Reuters.
