Declining IRS Audit Rates Aren’t a Free Pass to Cut Corners

Staying up nights worrying about an IRS audit? The good news is that your odds of being selected for an audit have been dropping over the years: About a decade ago, you would have a one in 100 chance of getting audited, but now those numbers are less than one in 167, or just 0.6% of individual federal income tax returns filed.

The most recent data available from the Internal Revenue Service Data Book appears to be even more favorable since the 2018 tax year numbers suggest that audit rates continue to drop.

But those numbers may be deceiving.

Understanding ...