Original Research
IRS Data & Tax Studies
Original analysis of public IRS data — audit rates, Offer in Compromise acceptance, liens and levies, penalty relief, and phone wait times. Every figure is sourced to the IRS’s own published statistics.
Journalists and researchers: these studies are free to cite. Each one names its IRS source and includes a ready-to-use attribution line. Questions or a custom data request? Contact us.
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Each study links to the full analysis with the data table, methodology, and source.
| Study | What it covers | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Offer in Compromise Acceptance Rate | How often the IRS accepts OIC settlement offers, and what the numbers really mean for your odds. | Read → |
| Audit Rates by Income | Your real, data-based odds of an IRS audit at each income level. | Read → |
| Tax Lien & Levy Statistics | How many liens and levies the IRS files each year and the trend over time. | Read → |
| IRS Phone Wait Times | How often the IRS actually answers the phone, and how long callers wait. | Read → |
| Math Error Notices | How common IRS math-error notices are, and your 60-day window to push back. | Read → |
| Penalty Abatement Statistics | How much the IRS reduces or removes in penalties each year — and why it’s worth asking. | Read → |
| Back Tax Debt Owed to the IRS | How much Americans collectively owe in back taxes, and how the balance has grown. | Read → |
| Total IRS Collections | The $5.3 trillion the IRS collects each year, and where it comes from. | Read → |
| Notice of Federal Tax Lien Filings | Lien filings by fiscal year: 214,099 in FY2025, up roughly 9% in a year. | Read → |
| IRS Levies Per Year | How many levies the IRS issues annually and the direction of the trend. | Read → |
| Third-Party Levy Notices | 339,137 levies served on banks and employers in FY2025. | Read → |
| Property Seizures | How rarely the IRS actually seizes property, with the real counts. | Read → |
| Installment Agreements | How many taxpayers are on IRS payment plans right now. | Read → |
| IRS Criminal Investigation | Case volumes, conviction rates, and how rare criminal referral really is. | Read → |
| ERC Fraud Investigations | 545 criminal cases worth $5.6 billion, and average sentences of 21 months. | Read → |
| ERC Recapture Letters | The data behind $1 billion in clawed-back Employee Retention Credits. | Read → |
| CP2000 Underreporter Notices | Inside the IRS document-matching machine and how many notices it sends. | Read → |
| Corporate Audit Rate | Large-company audit rates reach 22%, against a falling overall rate. | Read → |
| Audit Odds Over $1 Million | What audit exposure actually looks like at high income levels. | Read → |
| Partnership Audit Rate | How often partnerships are examined, and the enforcement trend. | Read → |
| EITC Audit Rate | Why filers claiming the EITC face disproportionately high audit rates. | Read → |
| Failure-to-Pay Penalties | How many failure-to-pay penalties are assessed, and their total value. | Read → |
| Estimated Tax Penalties | 15.7 million penalties a year, and why the number is surging. | Read → |
| Refund Delays | How long refunds really take when something goes wrong. | Read → |
| Identity Theft Resolution Times | How long the IRS takes to resolve identity-theft cases. | Read → |
Studies summarize publicly available IRS data for general information only and are not tax or legal advice. Clarity Tax Relief is not affiliated with the IRS.
Related: IRS Notice Decoder · OIC Calculator · IRS Help Center.