IRS Report to Congress The IRS generally considers three dimensions of tax compliance: filing, payment, and reporting. In 2003, IRS issued a Report to Congress detailing IRS tax compliance activities for 1996–2002. In Fiscal Year 2002, the National Research Program (NRP) was initiated, envisioned as an ongoing, comprehensive effort to measure taxpayers' voluntary compliance with tax law and develop updated methods for identifying returns likely to be noncompliant. The IRS examination or audit program relies on one-on-one examination contact with a taxpayer to detect noncompliant activity. There are three types of examinations: correspondence examinations are done through the mail; field examinations involve face-to-face interaction, typically conducted in a taxpayer's home or business, while office examinations are conducted in IRS offices. Data for each type of examination are available below. Statistics for returns claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) are also presented separately. Data tables found on this page are available in Excel® version 4.0. A free Excel® viewer is available for download, if needed. Examination Program Number of Returns Examined: Total examinations, all programs: All return types XLS Returns without EITC XLS Returns with EITC XLS Number of Returns Examined: Percentage of returns examined, all programs: All return types XLS Returns without EITC XLS Number of Returns Examined: Correspondence examinations only: All return types XLS Returns without EITC XLS Returns with EITC XLS Number of Returns Examined: Field examinations only: All return types XLS Returns without EITC XLS Returns with EITC XLS Number of Returns Examined: Office examinations only: All return types XLS Returns without EITC XLS Returns with EITC XLS Resources Spent on Examination Activities: Total examinations, all programs XLS Correspondence examinations only XLS Field examinations only XLS Office examinations only XLS Underreporter or Document Matching Program The document matching or underreporter program matches income, deductions, and credits reported on the tax return with the wage and information return data reported by employers, banks, and credit unions on information returns. The data presented here are: Total contacts with taxpayers XLS Percentage of taxpayers contacted XLS The Math Error program identifies mathematical errors and mismatches of taxpayer information that would result in a tax change on all returns as they are filed. A reviewer validates items such as primary, secondary, and dependent Social Security Numbers, Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, Rate Reduction Credit, and tax calculations. The Automated Substitute for Return (ASFR) program uses information returns and historical filing information to look for people who have not filed income tax returns and to create a tax return for them. It then tries to locate the taxpayer to give them a chance to provide their return voluntarily. NRP's Individual Reporting Compliance Study Costs The table below breaks out the costs related to the planning, design, and implementation of examinations for this study. Costs are shown by the four main IRS organizations involved in the Compliance Study—National Research Program, Wage & Investment, Small Business/Self-Employed, and the Detroit Computing Center. Dollar amounts and FTEs are shown for labor, supplies, travel, shipping, printing, and training costs. Study costs XLS
