IRS Data Book Shows Boost In Enforcement Activity

by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York

20 March 2007

The US Internal Revenue Service collected more than $2.2 trillion in tax and processed over 228 million returns in the fiscal year 2006, the agency has announced.

The latest IRS data book shows that over 80 million returns, including 54.3% of individual income tax returns, were filed electronically in FY 2006. Over 108 million individual income tax return filers received tax refunds, totaling $243 billion. In FY 2006, the IRS spent an average of 42 cents to collect each $100 of tax revenue.

The figures show that the IRS boosted its audit activities with regard to both individual and business taxpayers last year. Nearly 1.3 million individual income tax returns were examined in FY 2006, more than double the number examined in FY 2000. Examinations of business tax returns grew for the second year in a row, reaching over 52,000 in 2006.

Total corporate tax receipts collected by the IRS last year equalled almost $381 billion, 16% of all revenues received by the agency. Total employment taxes, at almost $815 billion, accounted for 32.4% of all revenues, while individual income taxes, at 1.2 trillion, accounted for a little under half (49.1%) of total revenues. Just under $29 billion was collected in estate and gift taxes, or 1.1% of the total revenue haul.

IRS personnel answered over 32.6 million toll-free calls from taxpayers, and the IRS Web site received about 194 million visits.

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