The IRS: Audits are Back
Uncle Sam's got deficits. You've got deductions. Expect scrutiny.
By Amy Feldman

(MONEY Magazine) – The President wants to hand the IRS an extra $500 million for enforcement. Ominous, considering your odds of being audited have been rising since 2000. Martin Nissenbaum, tax guru at Ernst & Young, says the IRS looks for obvious red flags. For example, itemized deductions of filers earning $100,000 to $200,000 in 2002 (the latest data) averaged $25,931. If yours run higher, Nissenbaum says, "that's probably not a good thing." --AMY FELDMAN