美国国家公共电台 NPR--Does the IRS audit some people more often than others?

Does the IRS audit¹ some people more often than others?

Transcript²

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Evelyn Smith, an author of a new study that concludes Black taxpayers⁴ face Internal Revenue Service audits⁵ at a much higher rate compared to other demographic groups.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Is the IRS more likely to audit some people than others? A study that included scholars and researchers from the Treasury⁶ Department finds Black Americans are three times more likely to be audited⁷. The authors include Evelyn Smith, a Ph.D. candidate in economics at the University of Michigan. Welcome to the program.

EVELYN SMITH: Thanks, Steve.

INSKEEP: How conclusive⁸ was your evidence that Black people are audited much more?

SMITH: Very conclusive, right? As you mentioned, we do find that Black taxpayers are three to four times as likely to be audited as everyone else. It's a big finding. It's a troubling one. And furthermore, we find that these disparities are concentrated among low-income taxpayers, particularly among taxpayers who are claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit.

INSKEEP: Wow. There is so much to follow up on here, starting with how this would even happen. You would like to presume that auditors⁹, or even computer algorithms, are just picking out people to audit based on the numbers. So how would race even enter into this?

SMITH: So you're correct to point out, you know, some of these mechanisms¹⁰. I want to be clear. We don't find evidence that these disparities are driven by explicit¹¹ bias¹² on the part of IRS or its revenue agents. Rather, we find that they're driven by IRS' tendency to prioritize small-dollar, high-certainty cases and to focus on specific issues with refundable¹³ credits like EITC rather than the total dollar amount of underreporting.

INSKEEP: I guess we should explain the earned income tax credit for those who are not familiar. If you're working a job, you're making an income, but not a lot of income, the earned income tax credit is money back to you. That helps you pay the bills and take care of your family. So it is something that lower-income people would get. And you're telling me that that people who get that specific tax credit are audited more often?

SMITH: Yes. But an important part of the paper is that we find that it's not just that EITC claimants are audited more often. It's that among EITC claimants, Black EITC claimants are more likely to be audited than non-Black EITC claimants.

INSKEEP: So it's not just socioeconomic; it's race. How would that happen?

SMITH: So what we find is that Black taxpayers tend to make the types of mistakes that IRS historically has focused on. So an example would be claiming dependents. So the IRS focuses very heavily on ensuring that dependents that are claimed for the purposes of EITC are - meet the eligibility¹⁴ criteria¹⁵. The IRS has a lot of data on dependents, but not necessarily more accurate data. So they focus very heavily on this issue. And Black taxpayers tend to be caught up in that relative to non-Black taxpayers.

INSKEEP: What did the IRS say when you presented them with these findings?

SMITH: So we have worked in collaboration¹⁶ with IRS and with Treasury. So they are aware of the findings. And, you know, their offices have press releases on this topic that I think you could refer to.

INSKEEP: OK.

SMITH: But they are aware of the problem.

INSKEEP: And they're trying to look into it. But you name a fundamental issue here that I want you to explain. You said at the beginning that the IRS is more likely to target somebody who's not making very much money than, perhaps, a billionaire who might have billions of dollars in taxes owed. Why would that be?

SMITH: So IRS funding has been falling for at least the last decade. You know, they haven't been able to hire new auditors. They haven't been able to replace auditors that retire. And the implication of that is that the share of audits they devote to higher-income returns, more complex returns have fallen over time. But the share - the audit rate for EITC claimants has not fallen. And that is in part because these audits, or at least the types of EITC audits that IRS does, are pretty simple. They mostly involve sending a letter to a taxpayer³ and waiting for their response.

INSKEEP: In a few seconds, could the recent increase in IRS funding and staffing improve this problem in any way?

SMITH: It certainly could.

INSKEEP: Evelyn Smith, thanks so much. Really appreciate it.

SMITH: Thank you.

INSKEEP: She's a Ph.D. candidate in economics at the University of Michigan, one of the authors of a study that found that Black Americans are three to five times more likely to be audited than other people.

1 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

4 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

5 audits   

n.审计，查账( audit的名词复数 )v.审计，查账( audit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Requires that use of all bond funds is subject to independent audits. 需要使用的所有债券基金是受独立审计。 来自互联网
• Support the locations during customer-visits, audits and quality-improvement programs. 支持客户参观，稽核和提高品质等项目。 来自互联网

6 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

7 audited   

v.审计，查账( audit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The accounts have to be audited by a firm of external auditors. 这些账目必须由一家外聘审计员的公司来稽查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• E. g. few if any charities collection publishes audited accounts. 例如很少义款收集有公布经过查核的帐目。 来自互联网

8 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

9 auditors   

n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生

参考例句：

• The company has been in litigation with its previous auditors for a full year. 那家公司与前任审计员已打了整整一年的官司。
• a meeting to discuss the annual accounts and the auditors' report thereon 讨论年度报表及其审计报告的会议

10 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

12 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

13 Refundable   

adj.可归还的，可退还的

参考例句：

• All deposits for holiday cottages are refundable. 度假别墅的抵押金可全数退还。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Empty bottles are not refundable. 空瓶不退。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 eligibility   

n.合格，资格

参考例句：

• What are the eligibility requirements? 病人被选参加试验的要求是什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
• Eligibility for HINARI access is based on gross national income (GNI). 进入HINARI获取计划是依据国民总收入来评定的。

15 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

16 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。