CBS Money Watch:  “the IRS has a top-secret, obsessively guarded computer program that targets certain tax returns for closer examination. . . . some deductions and credits are more likely to attract the government’s attention than others . If you don’t know about these red flags . . . you might be asking for an audit.”  The areas that get special IRS scrutiny are:

  1. New home credit
  2. Business car use
  3. Home office deductions
  4. A lot of itemized deductions for your income bracket
  5. Non-cash charitable contributions
  6. investment income discrepancies
  7. math error
  8. new car sales tax deduction

See also “IRS Releases 10-Year Enforcement Data: Business Audits Down, Individual Audits Up,” which contains a chart showing the percentages of IRS enforcement actions for the 2009 fiscal year.