I don't know how long ago this was, but in the past couple decades the likelihood of a regular Joe getting audited has plummeted. IRS enforcement has pretty mu

I don't know how long ago this was, but in the past couple decades the likelihood of a regular Joe getting audited has plummeted. IRS enforcement has pretty much been gutted by Congress. For everyone but high earners, it all comes down to automated checks that run at file time. If you don't have any obvious flags (e.g. not reporting income that was on a W2), then the IRS doesn't have time for you.