Statistics on IRS Audits-Fiscal Year 2011

Published on Monday, January 16, 2012

The IRS selected 1,564,690 individual returns for examination in FY 2011 compared to 1,581,394 individual returns selected for examination in FY 2010. Although there was a slight decline in the number of individual returns selected for audit in FY 2011, the overall audit coverage rate remained at 1.11 percent for FY 2011. The vast majority of individual audits were correspondence audits (1,173,069 in FY 2011).

Higher income individuals. The audit coverage rate for individuals with incomes under $200,000 was 1.04 percent in FY 2010 and fell to 1.02 percent in FY 2011. However, the audit coverage rate for individuals with incomes $200,000 and higher increased from 3.10 percent in FY 2010 to 3.93 percent in FY 2011.

Significant gains in audit coverage came in audits of individuals with incomes $1 million or more. The audit coverage rate for those millionaires increased from 8.36 percent in FY 2010 to 12.48 percent in FY 2011.

Field audits of individuals with incomes $200,000 and higher increased from 58,521 in FY 2010 to 78,392 in FY 2011. Field audits of individuals with incomes $1 million and higher increased from 16,509 in FY 2010 to 20,475 in FY 2011.

Businesses

Examinations of business returns in FY 2011 decreased compared to FY 2010. Overall, the IRS examined 9,869,358 business returns (all types of businesses) in FY 2011. That number was 9,941,289 in FY 2010.

Corporations. Corporations with assets $10 million and higher had the highest audit coverage rate at 17.64 percent in FY 2011 (16.58 percent in FY 2010). Within the large corporation category, the audit coverage rate was highest for corporations with assets $250 million or higher, at 27.6 percent for FY 2011. The audit coverage rate for small corporations (corporations with assets under $10 million) was 1.02 percent in FY 2011 compared to 0.94 percent in FY 2010.

Partnerships/S corps. The audit coverage rate for partnerships in FY 2011 was 0.40 percent, compared to 0.36 percent in FY 2010. The audit coverage rate also increased for S corps (0.42 percent in FY 2011 compared to 0.37 percent in FY 2010).