What are the odds of being audited.

I get similar questions to this quite frequently. Here are some statistics from 2017.   Out of 150 million tax filers in 2017, here are some stats based on gross income and other factors:  Returns audited (a) for international taxpayers – 1 in 19; (b) for those with gross income over $1 million – 1 in 23; (c) for sole proprietors with gross income between $100,000 and $200,000 – 1 in 48; (d) for sole proprietors with gross income between $200,000 and $1,000,000 – 1 in 64; (e) for taxpayers with self-employment income under $25,000 who also claim EITC – 1 in 72; (f) farmers – 1 in 228; wage earners who make under $200,000 and don’t claim EITC –  1 in 364 (65% of taxpayers are in this group). Finally, the overall individual audit rate – 1 in 161.  I imagine the rates will stay about the same for 2018.  Remember that, if you keep good records and do not throw any documents away that you used to prepare your tax return, you really do not have to worry about an audit, just the time you lose dealing with the audit examiner.