Erika Rasure is globally-recognized as a leading consumer economics subject matter expert, researcher, and educator. She is a financial therapist and transformational coach, with a special interest in helping women learn how to invest.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) knows it has a big problem. Estimates from the IRS reveal a gross tax gap of $496 billion between 2014 and 2016 (its most recent estimate). The tax gap is the spread between what the government thinks it should be collecting and what it collects.
Some cheats fail to report income, while others knowingly take write-offs they’re not entitled to. For example, the government pays out billions of dollars annually in refundable earned income tax credits due to fraudulent claims.
Obviously, threats of civil and criminal penalties are not enough to deter some people from cheating, so the IRS employs several ways to find these individuals.
The IRS uses an Information Returns Processing (IRP) System to match information sent by employers and other third parties to the IRS with what is reported by individuals on their tax returns. The matching is based on information returns submitted to the IRS on W-2s (reporting wages), 1099s (reporting interest, dividends, securities transactions, and non-employee compensation), and Schedule K-1s (reporting income and expenses from partnerships, S corporations, trusts, and estates).
The IRS computers then find individuals who received this reported information to make sure it’s been reported on their tax returns. Some omissions or errors by individuals are simple mistakes; some, however, result from trying to cheat on taxes.
From April 2022 to September 2022, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) completed 39 audits and 1,143 investigations that resulted in the "recovery, protection, and identification of monetary benefits totaling more than $2.1 billion."
IRS computers have become more sophisticated than simply matching and filtering taxpayer information. It is believed that the IRS can track credit card transactions and other electronic information and that it is using this added data to find tax cheats. Not surprisingly, the IRS doesn’t share much information about this activity with the public other than the fact that it’s being done.
If you are being audited, the IRS might be monitoring your public social media posts. (Again, there is little information from the agency about this activity.) Postings on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and other sites can reveal lifestyles that don’t fit with the amount of income reported on tax returns or with deductions claimed. For example, a claimed deduction for a business trip may be a lie when an individual reveals on social media that the trip was a family vacation.
Of course, without more disclosure from the IRS, how and when social media is used is largely conjecture; however, it’s probable that social media isn’t the audit trigger (the IRS continues to rely on computer matching and other traditional ways to target individuals for audits).
While social media may help the IRS find individuals cheating on their taxes, there is no proof it is used in this way; however, it is always wise to consider carefully what you post online.
The extent to which the IRS may investigate individuals is not known.
A disgruntled employee or a former spouse may tell the IRS about income that isn’t being reported or other erroneous tax actions that could lead the IRS to recoup taxes. Some whistleblowers do it for revenge, others because they believe they’re doing the right thing, while others do it for the money. The IRS pays a reward of up to 30% of the government’s recovery for certain whistleblowing:
The IRS does not check every tax return; in fact, it does not check the majority of them; however, the IRS implements methods that track certain factors that would result in a further examination or audit by them.
The IRS can reward you if you report a tax cheat. The IRS Whistleblower Office awards eligible individuals that report tax cheats if the information they provide is used. The award is generally between 15% and 30% of the collected proceeds.
The IRS does not audit/catch mistakes in the majority of tax returns. In 2022, approximately 708,309 returns were audited out of the 262.8 million federal tax returns filed.
Even though the IRS does not check all tax refunds, it is a large agency with a wide reach that has a variety of means of catching tax cheats and liars. The penalties for avoiding or lying about taxes are severe. If you are unsure about how to complete your taxes, seek a professional tax advisor or similar service to assist you.