Kerby Anderson

Today is Tax Day. Perhaps you are like many other Americans and wonder if your tax forms will be audited. It turns out that the IRS has been audited. The editors of the Wall Street Journal noticed two irregularities.

The editors quote from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The editors conclude that the Biden administration’s goal of wanting “to audit more ultrawealthy and fewer middle-class filers is not going so well.”

The original plan was to disproportionately target individuals making at least $400,000. But the IRS “did not include specifics on how the IRS was going to ensure it met this commitment.” No wonder. The most recent data shows that the IRS is still focused on the middle class. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of the new audits targeted taxpayers with income less than $200,000.

To be fair, the IRS never claimed it would decrease middle-class audits. All it claimed is that it would increase audits on more wealthy Americans. The billions of dollars Congress allocated to the IRS was supposed to fund that increase. But the IRS hasn’t been able to hire all those new IRS agents.

A little over a year ago, we were told after passing the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, that the IRS would be focusing their audits on the very rich. Instead, they are still focusing on the middle class. Why?

First, the IRS has been going after the middle class for the same reason Willie Sutton robbed banks. Because that’s where the money is. Second, Americans in the middle class are more likely to settle with the IRS rather than endure costly expenses of appeal and litigation even if they have a good case.

Nearly two years later, we were promised that the IRS would target the wealthy. Instead, the middle class has been the target of so many of their audits.