A lower IRS audit rate is not much comfort if your return is the one that gets flagged because the income, deductions, or reported amounts do not match what the IRS has on file.
Kiplinger.com recently reported that individual IRS audit rates have been “significantly below 1%” in recent years and are expected to keep declining, at least for now. But fewer audits does not mean looser standards. With funding and workforce cuts limiting capacity, the IRS is expected to use data analytics and artificial intelligence to focus more selectively on returns that appear higher-risk.
Match the Return to the Paper Trail
The IRS does not need to audit every return to find problems. A missing 1099, a K-1, business income that does not line up with the books, or a deduction that looks out of place can still create questions. Sometimes the result is not a full audit. It may be a notice asking why information the IRS received from someone else does not match what was reported on the return.
Before filing, check the return against the paperwork the IRS may already have: W-2s, 1099s, K-1s, brokerage statements, payment app reports, retirement forms, and anything else reporting income or payments under your name or your business. If the return says one thing and the outside paperwork says another, do not assume it will go unnoticed.
The same idea applies to returns with business income, investment activity, rental property, refundable credits, digital assets, foreign reporting, or large deductions. None of those items is wrong by itself. But if the support is thin, the math is rough, or the explanation changes every time someone asks, you may have a problem.
Clean Does Not Mean Timid
A clean return does not mean a timid return. If a deduction is legitimate, claim it. If a credit applies, use it. If your business had a real loss, report it properly. Claim what the law allows, but do not file numbers no one can explain later.
In my experience, tax trouble often starts in ordinary places. Personal expenses get mixed into business categories. Contractor payments are not reconciled. Vehicle use is estimated too casually. A side business has years of losses, but no one has stopped to ask whether it is being treated correctly. A brokerage statement arrives late and never makes it into the final return. It may not seem like a big deal, but it can become one when the IRS asks a simple question and the answer takes three days to find.
That is why the harder question is not “Will this get audited?” It is “Could we explain this if someone asked?”
Look at the items that would be hardest to defend later: meals and travel, home office deductions, vehicle use, rental losses, related-party payments, cash-heavy business income, refundable credits, digital asset transactions, and foreign accounts. If the answer is, “I think we can probably figure it out,” the return is not ready.
Fix the Process Before It Repeats
Records are what keep a legitimate deduction from becoming an argument. The IRS generally lets businesses choose a recordkeeping system that fits their work, but the records still need to show income and expenses clearly. A pile of transactions with no explanation is not much of a system.
For people who requested an extension, the extra time should not just move the same messy pile from April to October. Use it to clean up the weak spots before the return goes in.
If your return is already filed, but the process was rushed, scattered, or too dependent on memory, do not just move on and hope next year is cleaner. Weak systems are already showing. Now is the time to fix them while there is still plenty of 2026 left.
We would rather help you tighten the return before you file than explain it after a notice arrives. The goal is not to file a return that “avoids an audit.” The goal is to file one you can stand behind.