Study on Racial Disparities in Audits Fuels Push for IRS Fix

A high-profile study finding racial disparities in IRS audit rates is fueling a push among Democratic lawmakers, professors, and others for the IRS to use some of its new funds to help address the issue.

That study—authored by researchers at the Treasury Department, Stanford University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Chicago—found that Black taxpayers are audited at about three-to-five times the rate of non-Black taxpayers.

Black taxpayers claiming the earned income tax credit are more likely to be audited than other taxpayers claiming the credit, the study also found. The IRS conducts a sizable number of audits ...