Why does the IRS audit exempt organizations?

IRS’s office of Exempt Organizations (EO) conducts audits or examinations to analyze the operational and financial activities of 501(c)(3)s. The ultimate goal? Voluntary compliance with tax laws.

Will my organization be audited?

It depends. Striving to enforce the tax laws with consistency and fairness, EO uses both automated and manual systems to decide which organizations to audit. An annual plan—available on irs.gov—describes the types of organizations and issues that will be examined that year.