Tax Administration: IRS' Audit and Criminal Enforcement Rates for Individual Taxpayers Across the Country

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined: (1) factors that might explain why the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) audit, criminal investigation initiation, and prosecution referral rates for individual taxpayers differ across the country; (2) rates at which individual taxpayers were audited in IRS' Tennessee-Kentucky district and the South during fiscal years 1992 through 1997 compared to the national average rates; (3) rates at which individual taxpayers were investigated for alleged criminal tax and nontax violations and referred for prosecution in IRS' Tennessee-Kentucky district and the South during fiscal years 1992 through 1997 compared to the national average rates; and (4) controls that IRS has established for its audits, criminal investigations, and prosecution referrals for individual taxpayers and whether these controls were used.