WASHINGTON — If you’re going to cheat on your taxes, this is the year to do it.
Budget cuts forced the IRS to reduce the number of audits last year to the lowest level in a decade — and it could go down even more this year, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said Tuesday.
“The math is pretty simple,” Koskinen said in a speech to the New York State Bar Association. “There are fewer audits because we have fewer auditors. Audits fell in virtually every individual category and across income levels.”
Last year, the IRS audited 1.2 million individual tax returns.
Koskinen said the IRS is down more than 2,200 revenue agents since 2010.
Last year, a little more than 11,600 revenue agents examined returns, and Koskinen is warning that the number of agents will decline again this year.
Congress has cut the agency’s budget by $1.2 billion since 2010.
The IRS will receive $10.9 billion for the budget year that ends in September.
Fewer audits, however, doesn’t necessarily make it easier for average taxpayers to cheat on their taxes, since your employer probably reports your wages to the IRS.