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10 IRS Audit Red Flags for Retirees

You may be wondering about your odds of an IRS audit. Most people can breathe easy. The vast majority of individual returns escape the IRS audit machine. In 2018, the Internal Revenue Service audited only 0.59% of all individual tax returns, and 81% of these exams were conducted by mail, meaning most taxpayers never met with an IRS agent in person. So the odds are generally pretty low that your return will be picked for review.

That said, your chances of being audited or otherwise hearing from the IRS escalate depending on various factors. Math errors may draw IRS inquiry, but they'll rarely lead to a full-blown exam. Check out these 10 red flags that could increase the chances that the IRS will give the return of a retired taxpayer special, and probably unwelcome, attention.

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Although the overall individual audit rate is only about one in 170 returns, the odds

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