Black Americans are significantly more likely to be subjected to tax investigations, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has admitted.
IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said in a letter to the US Senate that recent research indicates black taxpayers are between three and five times more likely to be audited.
Mr Werfel said he was “deeply concerned” by the disparity.
Lawmakers have called on the IRS to review its auditing processes.
A recent study from economists at Stanford University found that black taxpayers were more likely to be singled out for audit than non-black taxpayers.
Although the IRS does not collect information about race on tax documents, Daniel Ho, the paper’s co-author, told BBC News the disparity still exists.
This is partially because the agency currently focuses more resources on auditing those who claim refundable tax credits, rather than going after high-income taxpayers with more complicated returns.
Mr Werfel told lawmakers the agency was looking into…
This article was written by and originally published on www.bbc.co.uk