The Internal Revenue Service Enforcement Statistics for the 2009 Fiscal year
By Vince Nardone, Tax Attorney, Columbus Ohio | Email Me
Tax Lawyer Vince Nardone discusses recent publication of the Internal Revenue Service’s enforcement statistics.
Based on a limited review of the IRS 2009 fiscal year enforcement statistics, the IRS's enforcement actions in fiscal year 2009 increased significantly over 2008. But, the enforcement revenue collected shows a significant decline from the previous two years, according to information previously released by the IRS. This is no surprise of course. Based on the current economic climate, you would expect the IRS activity to increase but less money to come in because of the money simply not being available. That is, the Taxpayer simply do not have any money.
As to the specific statistics, in fiscal year 2009, IRS levies totaled 3,478,181, liens totaled 965,618, and seizures totaled 581. In fiscal year 2008, there were 2,631,038 levies, 768,168 liens, and 610 seizures. The IRS also garnered $48.9 billion through enforcement actions in fiscal year 2009—with $26.9 billion through collection, $17.4 billion through examination, and $4.6 billion through document matching. In fiscal year 2008, the agency collected a total of $56.4 billion and, in fiscal year 2007, the amount collected was $59.2 billion. As to exams, for those with income between $200,000 and $999,999, 2.89% of returns were examined. For those earning $1 million or more, 6.42% of returns were examined. A total of 9,951,648 business returns (small and large corporation returns, and Subchapter S and partnership pass through returns) were filed and 58,144 were examined for a coverage rate of 0.58%. The coverage rate for corporations with assets under $10 million was 0.85%, for corporations with assets of at least $10 million it was 14.55%, for Subchapter S corporations (Form 1120-S) it was 0.40%, and for partnership returns (Form 1065) it was 0.38%.
Please see the attached statistics for more information.
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