[Alex Chadwick:] Oh, no, a million dollars at the Masters, golfer Zach Johnson now has to worry about taxes. But he's got a cushion that the rest of us can only dream about as we face tax day next week. And if the time crunch isn't stressful enough, the fear of an audit is. Humorist Brian Unger has some advice on how not to raise red flags with the IRS. That's in today's Unger Report.
[Brian Unger:] These are scary times for rich people. Commissioner Mark Everson says the IRS is increasing its audits of high-income taxpayers. This means if you earn more than $100,000 or you're a millionaire, you're a lot more likely to be audited than you were a few years ago. This marks a big strategy ship for the IRS, to audit people with lots of money. The message to the poor: Go crazy on your deductions this year, while your chances of staying poor had never been greater, your risks of being audited has never been less. Very few will be scrutinizing the money you're not making. So while the IRS is storming the country club, don't get caught planting any red flags in this year's tax return. The Unger Report has these classic audit triggers that can trip you up at tax time. Establishing yourself as your own tax deductible religion is just asking for trouble. No one disagrees the church of you is an important institution providing charitable relief to you. But under IRC Section 501-C3, you and your congregant, you, are not a religion exempt from federal income tax. The IRS can be prickly when it comes to self-worship, and takes a Judeo-Christian approach to tax exception rather than supporting exceptions for narcissistic, self-loving people who idolizing themselves and their houses in St. Barts. And even though, it's easier to prove your own existence over God, your church is very young. I mean the Old Testament is really old, the [Unintelligible] is much older than your Range Rover. Now deducting $250,000 for appearance maintenance, this is going to be a big red flag for the IRS too face-lifts, lipo and botox are not tax deductible unless you live in Beverly Hills. The IRS recognizes for those who live in the 90210, getting a nose job is an actual job, not a hobby. Another red flag raised by tax filers is the old campaign contribution to a political candidate, especially when you claim that candidate is you. Important to remember, you're not running for office. Barack Obama's 25 million is exempt. Your war chest is not. And in the end, make sure you get a good accountant, specifically, stay away from any CPA who worked for the CPA, the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. That CPA lost $9 billion in reconstruction money, big red flag. And that is today's Unger Report. I'm Brian Unger.
[Alex Chadwick:] DAY TO DAY is a production of NPR News with contributions from Slate.com. I'm Alex Chadwick.
[Alex Cohen:] And I'm Alex Cohen.