Does Owing Taxes Increase Your Chances of Getting Audited?
Content provided for general information. Talk to your advisor to learn about recent updates or other rules that may apply to your situation.
Owing taxes to the IRS doesn’t mean that you’ll automatically get audited, but there are some things you should watch out for.
What counts as an IRS audit?
An audit is when the IRS checks your tax return for accuracy. They might have conflicting information from another source, or you could have just been randomly selected.
Depending on the situation, the IRS may send you a notice saying they’re making changes to your tax return, or they might request more information about specific things on your tax return.
A notice that you owe money to the IRS can follow an audit, but it isn’t an audit. For example, if you file your tax return and don’t pay, the IRS reminder to pay is not an audit.