IRS to Audit 13,000 Americans for Tax Gap Research

13,000 Americans will be randomly selected for an IRS audit for research purposes, according to U.S. News & World Report:

The Internal Revenue Service relaunched its program of random audits this month in an effort to hone its ability to estimate compliance rates and crack down on tax fraud. Unlike its usual audits, which are more targeted and so not representative of all taxpayers, the program will randomly select about 13,000 individuals for a closer examination of their 2006 returns. The goal is to gather information that will help reduce the $290 billion “tax gap,” the estimated difference between taxes paid and taxes owed. (In 2006, the IRS audited about 1.3 million taxpayers as part of its routine auditing process.)

More here. More on income taxes here.