Why do I feel like somebody’s watching me?
Because maybe there is somebody watching me. And that somebody is Uncle Sam.
Yep,
fresh off our firm’s annual unemployment compensation audit (we’ve been
chosen almost every year in a random audit - luckily, no worries), I
read today that IRS released a report that more than 1.2 million
individual federal income tax returns (forms 1040) were audited in
fiscal year 2005, a more than 20% increase from 2004. In 2004, the IRS
had noted a nearly 20% increase in audits. Are you getting a picture
here?
On the corporate side, it’s no secret that the IRS is targeting s corporations for audits.
However, on the personal side, it appears that the IRS might be gunning
for individuals with an income of more than $100,000. Almost 20% of the
individual audits this year focused on that tax bracket, the highest
figure in ten years. Ironically, there were just as many audits for
those reporting under $25,000… Somewhere, the middle class just might
be breathing a sigh of relief (and this is perhaps the only tax
"relief" granted to the middle class this year!).
