IRS "Face-to-Face" District Audits
of Individual Income Tax Returns

(click here to view addition of Compliance or Service Center audits)

Fiscal Year Returns Filed* Revenue Agent Audits Tax Auditor Audits Total District Audits Percent Audited
1981 93,052,000 289,507 1,193,079 1,482,586 1.59
1982 94,013,000 285,526 1,066,537 1,352,063 1.44
1983 95,419,000 277,945 1,001,865 1,279,810 1.34
1984 95,541,300 276,182 859,351 1,135,533 1.19
1985 96,496,900 332,574 810,943 1,143,517 1.19
1986 99,529,000 298,943 732,456 1,031,399 1.04
1987 101,750,800 317,525 610,439 927,964 0.91
1988 103,251,000 352,808 532,326 885,134 0.86
1989 107,029,000 242,983 542,664 785,647 0.73
1990 109,868,400 202,570 516,749 719,319 0.65
1991 112,304,900 200,735 499,886 700,621 0.62
1992 113,829,200 210,166 536,640 746,806 0.66
1993 114,718,900 250,712 505,539 756,251 0.66
1994 113,754,400 364,016 456,216 820,232 0.72
1995 114,683,400 338,605 458,880 797,485 0.70
1996 116,059,700 252,430 509,420 761,850 0.66
1997 118,362,600 209,781 505,834 715,615 0.60
1998 120,342,400 168,054 383,366 551,420 0.46
1999 121,829,470 124,270 259,197 383,467 0.31
2000 124,887,140 91,351 159,014 250,365 0.20
2001 127,097,210 77,994 124,507 202,501 0.16
2002 129,444,947 88,896 116,238 205,134 0.16
2003 130,341,159 93,692 110,464 206,457 0.16
2004 130,134,277 97,591 99,797 197,388 0.15


Source: Internal Revenue Service. Includes audits conducted under the Assistant Commissioner (International) outside the jurisdiction of regular IRS district offices. From 2001.

*Returns filed during previous calendar year.

Figures prior to 1998 include a small number of correspondence audits conducted by tax examiners from district offices. IRS data systems prior to 1998 did not allow them to be segregated out but treated them as if they were conducted by tax auditors. In 1998 there were 16,341 of such tax examiner correspondence audits. Total District Audits for 2003 includes 2,301 tax examiner audits, and 2,334 in 2004.

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, Syracuse University
Copyright, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005