New Tax Audits Plummet

The decision by the IRS to delay new audits in the U.S. between April and July is starting to show, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to halt federal services across the country.

New data collected by Bloomberg from National Taxpayer Advocate’s Fiscal Year 2021 Report to Congress shows a 65 percent decline in audits initiated by the IRS in April and May between 2019 and 2020. Corporate audits saw the largest cut, declining by 71 percent from 2,445 to 716, followed by individual audits dropping from 14,188 to 5,013.

Filings for tax returns were also delayed to July, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has felt pressure to push back that date even further – especially as cases in the country begin to increase again. Still, despite calls to delay the due date further, the IRS reports that they’ve already received 120 million tax turns as of May 22.