The Effect of Audit Rates on Federal Income Tax Filings and Collections, 1977-1986

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effects of audit rates and certain other factors on federal income tax filings and collections. Using data drawn primarily from the Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for the years 1977-1986, we investigate the overall performance of the federal revenue collection process and estimate that total IRS collections in 1986 would have risen by approximately forty billion dollars had the federal audit rate remained constant at its 1977 level during the intervening period.