IRS Targeting of Service Center Audits
Low versus High Income Taxpayers

	Individuals
	Low			High
	1992	2001	2003	1992	2001	2003
Audit Rate (%)	0.40	0.78	0.48	2.38	0.31	0.58
Ave. Tax Recommended	$2,471	$2,577	$2,906	$4,569	$4,567	$10,528
Ave. Audit Hours	*0.9	1.5	na	*2.4	1.8	na
Number of Audits	171,864	325,441	169,955	74,566	29,086	63,328
Number of Returns Filed	43,183,245	41,716,770	35,631,532	3,131,801	9,326,250	10,841,260

	Businesses (Schedule C)
	Low			High
	1992	2001	2003	1992	2001	2003
Audit Rate (%)	0.48	2.13	2.50	0.81	0.28	0.38
Ave. Tax Recommended	$1,028	$1,723	$1,900	$3,667	$3,814	$3,892
Ave. Audit Hours	*1.3	2.4	na	*2.5	2.0	na
Number of Audits	10,207	54,316	68,165	12,743	5,556	7,827
Number of Returns Filed	2,139,507	2,553,280	2,721,912	1,579,644	2,012,210	2,084,855

*1993 figure since 1992 unavailable.
Note: Low income individuals have total positive income <$25,000 and file simple returns, while high income report $100,000 or more. Similarly Schedule C filers have <$25,000 (low) or $100,000 or more (high) total gross receipts.