When does the IRS audit?
The audit well after the tax reason. All they do at tax time is check the math and the table lookups and such. They don’t question anything at tax time. This summer they will check to make sure all W-2s and 1099s and other tax forms issued with your SSN got to your tax return. If not, they will send you a letter asking why not. That is technically an audit – a correspondence audit. Then 1-18 months after that, they may question anything else. Your number might be pulled at random. The might think some deduction was too high or that you were not entitled to it, and they will ask for prove. Don’t sweat being audited. Over 80% are just done by the mail, where you have to send a receipt or answer how you got a number when they got a different number. Usually only people with businesses, rental income, sophisticated investments, or large amounts of deductions from income actually have to go in.
