What are your chances of being audited now that the IRS is using AI? Jury is still out

Source Domain: www.cnn.com

Just looking at the raw numbers, less than 1% of filers have been audited by the IRS in recent tax years. Based on the latest data available, for example, in tax year 2021 the IRS pursued a mere 0.3% of filers overall.

The audit rate has been higher for select groups of taxpayers based on certain characteristics – like the amount or types of income they report or specific tax breaks they claim. But even there, with very few exceptions, audits typically affect less than 10% of any given group and often a far smaller share – smaller as in, again, less than 1%.

But a lot has changed for the IRS in the past year.

A large percentage of employees were laid off or resigned, including many highly experienced in areas of enforcement and complex audits. Just over a quarter of both tax examiners and revenue agents were among them, according to a July 2025 report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

And a majority of funding for enforcement promised under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act was rescinded and the Trump administration is seeking to cut IRS funding further next year.

At the same time, the agency has been modernizing its antiquated systems and increasing its use of AI in a number of areas, including enforcement. “The IRS is using artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics to identify high-risk areas of non-compliance and fraud with greater accuracy,” IRS CEO Frank Bisignano said in written testimony before the Senate Finance Committee earlier this month. Among his stated goals for the agency: “Advancing a strong compliance agenda while improving collections beyond historical norms.”

How will the combination of these big changes affect any filer’s chance of being audited in the coming years?

It’s not clear, for several…

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