Although millionaires were prime audit targets, the IRS said its audit rates were generally up in all income levels. The rates were:

There was 9.25 percent for those with incomes of more than $1 million, up from 6.3 percent in 2006, 2.87 percent for those with incomes above $200,000, up from 2.57 percent, and 0.93 percent for those earning under $100,000, compared to 0.89 percent the previous year. Overall, the IRS looked at just under 1.4 million returns in fiscal 2007, up from almost 1.3 million audits the prior year. The FY07 audit number is the highest since 1998.

Of course, the numbers the IRS is really interested in is how much money the increased audits brings in. The extra examination efforts in FY07 accounted for $59.2 billion. That is up from the $48.7 billion collected in 2006 and substantially more than the nearly $34.1 billion that audit activity brought in back in 2002.

Here is a chart that shows their efforts over the years.

So expect the IRS to keep the audit pressure on.

Labels: Audit, Income Tax, IRS

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