I.R.S. Says Its Audits of Wealthy Are Rising

[babylonsister]

I.R.S. Says Its Audits of Wealthy Are Rising
By LYNNLEY BROWNING
Published: March 12, 2010


The Internal Revenue Service is intensifying its scrutiny of wealthy Americans.

The federal agency increased its audits of taxpayers who earned $1 million to $5 million by 33 percent last year compared with 2008, new I.R.S. figures show.

The numbers, released late Thursday in the agency’s 2009 annual data book, also show that the I.R.S. increased its audits by 16 percent for those earning $5 million to $10 million last year. Audits of those who made at least $10 million rose by 8.5 percent, according to the data.

The figures are the strongest evidence yet that the agency is honoring a vow by the I.R.S. commissioner, Douglas H. Shulman, to increase scrutiny of wealthy taxpayers.

Taxpayers who earned at least $1 million a year made up 0.25 percent of the more than 144 million individual federal returns filed last year, the data showed, but affluent Americans account for a far greater share of the underpayments in federal income tax returns.

“The 2009 results show our emphasis on higher-income individuals,” Bruce I. Friedland, an I.R.S. spokesman, said Friday in a statement. “We will continue to focus our enforcement efforts on high-income taxpayers, particularly those hiding their assets overseas.”

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/business/13tax.html?hpw

[icnorth]

1. My Gawd...do you actually think

they've uncovered a clue as to where the cash is stashed?