We certainly don’t want to give comfort to tax cheats — and we’re not trying to imply that any of our beloved readers are anything less than honest when filing their tax returns — but for those who dread a random audit, there’s some good news: Budget and staff cuts at the IRS will likely mean fewer audits.

The most recent round of budget cuts have left the IRS with around 5,000 fewer staffers than it had last year, reports the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The agency’s National Taxpayer Advocate recently stated that these cuts make it nigh impossible for the IRS to “meet the service needs of the taxpaying public.”

Unfortunately, while this cut back does include those dreaded audits, it also means cuts to services like phone support and the processing of amended returns.

And, as the IRS has pointed out, fewer audits may mean that tax cheats are not being caught, which means that honest taxpayers are footing an uneven portion of the tax bill.

With resources stretched, IRS may audit fewer folks [AJC.com]

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