Page 7 - ARUBA TODAY

A7
U.S. NEWS Monday 6 March 2017

Income tax audits plummet as IRS loses agents to budget cuts

0.7 percent of individu- Corporate audits were his cooperation in their in-
als were audited, either in down by 17 percent last vestigations.
person or by mail. That’s year. Just 0.49 percent of When asked about IRS
the lowest audit rate since corporations were audited, money, many Republican
2003. the lowest rate in at least a lawmakers inevitably men-
The higher your income, decade. tion the mistreatment of
the more likely you are to Republicans in Congress conservative groups.
be audited. The IRS audit- began cutting money “Go look at all the areas
ed 1.7 percent of returns at the IRS after they took where they’ve wasted
that reported more than control of both the House money, mismanaged tax-
$200,000 in income. and Senate in the 2010 payer resources,” said Rep.
Agents audited 5.8 percent elections. They became Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. “Not to
of returns that reported more enthusiastic about mention the fact that, you
more than $1 million in in- the spending cuts after it know, one of the reasons
come. became public that the we went after them so hard
Both audit rates were steep agency had improperly is they did target people for
In the photo, the exterior of the Internal Revenue Service build- declines from the year be- singled out conservative their political views.”
ing in Washington. As millions of Americans file their income tax fore. political groups for extra Democrats argue that it’s a
returns, their chances of getting audited by the IRS have rarely The most well-known au- scrutiny when they applied costly move.
been so low. The number of people audited by the IRS last year dit in Washington is one on for tax-exempt status dur- “You know, when some-
dropped for the sixth straight year, to just over 1 million. The last President Donald Trump, ing the 2010 and 2012 elec- body doesn’t pay, that
time so few people were audited was 2004, when the popula- who has cited it in refusing tions. means that others pay
tion was significantly smaller.
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh) to release his tax returns. Koskinen was not at the IRS more,” said Rep. Richard
The IRS, however, has said when the political groups Neal of Massachusetts, the
STEPHEN OHLEMACHER more money back,” Koski- an audit would not prevent were mistreated, but some top Democrat on tax-writ-
Associated Press nen said in an interview. an individual from releasing Republicans in Congress ing House Ways and Means
WASHINGTON (AP) — As So is it safe to cheat on your the returns. have been unhappy with Committee. q
millions of Americans file taxes? Not necessarily, ac-
their income tax returns, cording to tax experts.
their chances of getting “I don’t think it’s open sea-
audited by the IRS have son for people to cheat,”
rarely been so low. said Joseph Perry, a part-
The number of people au- ner at the accounting firm
dited by the IRS in 2016 Marcum. “I think there are
year dropped for the sixth a certain group of people
straight year, to just over 1 that will always try to push
million. The last time so few the envelope to get away
people were audited was with things that they think
2004. Since then, the U.S. they can get away with.”
has added about 30 million As Koskinen put it: “If you’re
people. a taxpayer, you don’t want
The IRS blames budget cuts to roll the roulette wheel
as money for the agency and have the little white
shrunk from $12.2 billion ball land on your number
in 2010 to $11.2 billion last because then we’re not
year. Over that period, the very happy.”
agency has lost more than Most people don’t have
17,000 employees, includ- much of an opportunity to
ing nearly 7,000 enforce- cheat on their taxes be-
ment agents. A little more cause the IRS collects a lot
than 80,000 people work at of information to verify tax-
the IRS. payers’ finances. Employ-
IRS Commissioner John ers report wages, banks
Koskinen said budget cuts report interest, brokerages
are costing the federal report capital gains and
government between $4 lenders report mortgage
billion and $8 billion a year interest.
in uncollected taxes. In 2016, the number of
“We are the only agency people audited by the IRS
if you give us more people dropped by 16 percent
and money, we give you from the year before. Just