IRS "Face-to-Face" Audits
of Federal Income Tax Returns Filed by Individuals


Return Type/Income Class
Percent of Returns Audited
Fiscal Year
2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992
All 1040/1040A Returns 0.22 0.18 0.15 0.16 0.16 0.16 0.20 0.31 0.46 0.61 0.66 0.70 0.72 0.66 0.66
1040A < $25,000 TPI 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.06 0.08 0.11 0.17 0.27 0.35 0.41 0.50 0.56 0.46 0.38
non1040A < $25,000 TPI 0.08 0.06 0.05 0.06 0.09 0.11 0.16 0.26 0.39 0.56 0.61 0.65 0.60 0.47 0.53
$25,000 < $50,000 TPI 0.14 0.12 0.09 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.14 0.22 0.33 0.45 0.51 0.45 0.40 0.46 0.48
$50,000 < $100,000 TPI 0.23 0.19 0.14 0.18 0.14 0.13 0.16 0.26 0.39 0.54 0.59 0.50 0.51 0.66 0.79
$100,000 TPI or more 0.44 0.34 0.35 0.40 0.38 0.38 0.47 0.77 1.13 1.51 1.70 1.53 1.78 2.49 2.90
Sch C: < $25,000 TGR 0.58 0.55 0.51 0.49 0.46 0.59 0.70 1.09 1.55 2.12 2.36 3.85 3.94 2.02 1.45
Sch C: $25,000 < $100,000 TGR 0.88 0.92 0.73 0.62 0.64 0.57 0.70 1.01 1.44 2.04 1.95 2.24 2.63 2.07 1.81
Sch C: $100,000 TGR or more 2.36 1.91 1.38 1.10 1.14 0.92 1.23 2.08 2.85 3.44 3.15 2.74 3.07 3.36 3.36
Sch F: < $100,000 TGR 0.14 0.17 0.62 0.31 0.21 0.32 0.21 0.35 0.59 0.81 0.84 0.77 0.96 0.89 1.01
Sch F: $100,000 TGR or more 0.36 0.63 1.23 0.48 0.39 0.79 0.50 0.68 1.05 1.63 1.83 1.53 1.31 1.77 2.03

TPI = sum of all positive income items; TGR = total gross receipts

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.

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, Syracuse University Copyright 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007