{"id":33037,"date":"2018-01-17T14:23:06","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T20:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?p=33037"},"modified":"2020-06-08T17:08:38","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T22:08:38","slug":"irs-mail-audits-really-something-worry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-mail-audits-really-something-worry\/","title":{"rendered":"Are IRS Mail Audits Really Something to Worry About?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most people think IRS audits are probably very bad.<\/p>\n

Maybe you\u2019ll have to sit in a cold, dark room with a suited and well-starched IRS agent who asks cutting — and maybe confusing — questions about your tax return and your income. All to prove you are a tax cheat.<\/p>\n

Good news. For most people, this is far from reality. The IRS does 70% of audits by mail.<\/p>\n

But just because you get an IRS audit letter instead of an IRS agent at your door, the outcome may not be much different than a face-to-face audit with an IRS agent. In fact, in 2016, the IRS made a change to the return in 89% of all mail audits.<\/p>\n

The average amount of additional tax owed in an audit is over $6,500, not including penalties and interest.<\/p>\n

Face-to-face audits have only a slightly higher change rate: 92%. But because many face-to-face audits involve higher-income and business returns, the average additional tax owed is almost 10 times higher than in mail audits.<\/p>\n

So, should you worry about your mail audit? Yes and no.<\/h2>\n

Don\u2019t worry about dealing with the IRS in person<\/h3>\n

Most of the time, when the IRS starts a mail audit, the IRS will ask you to explain or verify something simple on your return, such as:<\/p>\n