The importance of paying tax obligations on time has been discussed on previous posts here, as have the various partial payment plans offered by the Internal Revenue Service. Even if an Austin resident is not able to pay their taxes, by informing the IRS and working with them to figure out a way to make payments a person can potentially avoid penalties. While many think that the IRS only imposes financial penalties, that is not the case. The IRS can also file a lien against a defaulter's property.
The most audited counties in Texas
The potential for an audit was likely in the back of your mind as you filed your taxes. You carefully keep track of every tax document that arrives in the mail and look over your return for errors. If someone else does your taxes for you, you trust that they've taken the same caution to prevent an audit.
Can I take any steps to reduce risks of getting audited?
While many Internal Revenue Service tax audits are conducted randomly, there are certain factors that might trigger audits. When the information on one document does not match the information on the other, such as the income reported does not correspond with the income on a W-2, the chances of getting audited are high. Similarly, if someone's automatic deductions are more than for others in that profession, they are assigned a high Discriminant Inventory Function System Score, and the higher the score, the more likely the audit. Lastly, the more someone earns, the more likely they are to get audited.
