IRS Audits Of Big Business Plummets

If you ever needed proof that the Bush administration has made the government an adjunct of big business, just look at the recent study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.

The study speaks of “a historic collapse in audits” of big companies, defined as those with over $250 million in assets. Big companies have only a one is four chance of being audited this year. In 1990 that was a three in four chance of an audit.

The study reports that the focus of IRS audits has shifted from big companies to small ones, private partnerships and smaller entities. To be fair, part of the shift is due to large corporations forming small partnerships to shield scrutiny by the IRS, yet the shift has brought surprise from tax professionals.

To ignore the “big boys” and go after easier to intimidate small companies may boost the bottom line for the IRS, but it is far from fair. Big companies like Exxon-Mobil have made record profits in recent years and I have to wonder what intricate accounting schemes they are using to shield them from the IRS. I suspect having the President on the metaphoric payroll might be a start. Bush and Cheney are both oil men first and foremost, and anyone who believes otherwise is living in “their own reality” as the Neo-cons were fond of saying.