The people who are least likely to be audited by the Internal Revenue

Question

The people who are least likely to be audited by the Internal Revenue Service this year are those who have been audited since 1985 and who were found to have made no mistakes in filing their returns during that audit.

Of the following people, who is MOST likely to be audited by the IRS?

(A) A person who was audited in 1986 but was not found to have made any mistakes in filing his return.

(B) A person who was audited in 1986 and whose lawyer corrected several mistakes in the tax return prior to the filing deadline.

(C) A person whose spouse was convicted of tax fraud in 1987, who was then audited and found to have made no mistakes.

(D) A person who was last audited in 1984, and had no mistakes uncovered by the IRS during that audit.

(E) A person who was audited in each of the past five years, but was found to have made no mistakes in any of the filings.

honneeey · Accepted Answer

Choice D makes sense again. As the person was last audited in 1984, the person doesn't fall into the criteria of not being under audit this year.

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rishav96 · Answer

people who are least likely to be audited by the Internal Revenue Service this year are those who have been audited  since 1985  and who were found to have made  no mistakes  in filing their returns during that audit.

option D says the the person was audited in 1984 and there were no mistakes found . this satisfies only one of the above mentioned conditions hence Person D would be most likely audited by the IRS this year .

surendrasaini1 · Answer

The people who are least likely to be audited by the Internal Revenue Service this year are those who have been audited since 1985 and who were found to have made no mistakes in filing their returns during that audit.

Of the following people, who is MOST likely to be audited by the IRS?

(A)  A person who was audited in 1986 but was not found to have made any mistakes in filing his return.(least likely)

(B)  A person who was audited in 1986 and whose lawyer corrected several mistakes in the tax return prior to the filing deadline.(least likely)

(C)  A person whose spouse was convicted of tax fraud in 1987, who was then audited and found to have made no mistakes.(likely to be)

(D) A person who was last audited in 1984, and had no mistakes uncovered by the IRS during that audit.(most likely because this person has not been audited since 1984)

(E)  A person who was audited in each of the past five years, but was found to have made no mistakes in any of the filings.(least likely)

Would go with choice D

Thanks

sampad · Answer

The logic seems to be contradictory. the paragraph tells about least likely to be audited and question asks about most likely to be audited. The answer is supporting least likely to be audited.

Not sure if I am missing something.

gerash7 · Answer

Anyone who has clean filing history since 1985 is least likely to be audited.
So who is most likely to be audited?
a. Some one who doesn't have a clean record since 1985 
b. Someone whose last audit was before 1985(doesn't matter if that was clean or not)

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

The question stem asks Of the following people, who is MOST likely to be audited. Since the correct answer choices must be supported by the passage, this is an inference question. Do not bother breaking the passage into its conclusion, premise, and assumption for inference questions. Instead, focus on what the passage states directly. The correct answer must be true based on the facts in the passage. The passage states that The people least likely to be audited by the Internal Revenue Service this year are those who have been audited at least once since 1985 and who were found to have made no mistakes in filing their returns during that audit. The correct answer choice must be supported by these facts. Evaluate the answer choices.

Choice A: No. This choice is a reversal. If A person who was audited in 1986 but was not found to have made any mistakes in filing his return, then according to the passage, he would be least likely to be audited because he has been audited at least once since 1985 and was found to have made no mistakes.

Choice B: No. This choice is a reversal. If A person who was audited in 1986 and whose lawyer corrected several mistakes in the tax return prior to the filing deadline but was not found to have made any mistakes in filing his return, then according to the passage, he would be least likely to be audited because he has been audited at least once since 1985 and was found to have made no mistakes since his lawyer corrected the mistakes before the filing deadline, so the audit would not have found mistakes in the actual filed tax documents.

Choice C: No. This choice is a reversal. If a person was then  audited and found to have made no mistakes, then according to the passage, he would be least likely to be audited because he has been audited at least once since 1985 and was found to have made no mistakes. The fact that his spouse was convicted of tax fraud in 1987 is out of scope.

Choice D: Correct. According to the passage, the people least likely to be audited by the Internal Revenue Service this year are those who have been audited at least once since 1985 and who were found to have made no mistakes in filing their returns during that audit, which does not describe a person who was last audited in 1984.

Choice E: No. This choice is a reversal. If A person who was audited in each of the past five years, but was found to have made no mistakes in any of the filings, then according to the passage, he would be least likely to be audited because he has been audited at least once since 1985 and was found to have made no mistakes.

The correct answer is choice D.

mellowmev · Answer

The prompt states that the people least likely to be audited are those who have been audited since 1985 and were found to have made no mistakes. This implies that the likelihood of being audited again decreases if a person was audited after 1985 and had no mistakes.

Option (D): "A person who was last audited in 1984, and had no mistakes uncovered by the IRS during that audit."
Explanation: This person was last audited in 1984, which is before the 1985 threshold mentioned in the prompt. Since the audit occurred before 1985, this person does not benefit from the reduced likelihood of being audited again. Therefore, this person is more likely to be audited compared to those who were audited after 1985 and found to have made no mistakes.
In contrast, the other options involve individuals who were audited after 1985 and had no mistakes or corrected mistakes, making them less likely to be audited again. Therefore, (D) is the correct answer because this individual falls outside the group least likely to be audited and is thus most likely to be audited by the IRS

Adit_ · Answer

OE is pretty odd, I can make a strong case for option B in this case as well saying that the lawyer might have corrected several mistakes and it clearly could show fraud involved either because several is not "much" enough or because correcting so many mistakes just before a filing might sometimes be suspicious as well we dont know any more details here. Option E is simply considering the year data which I understand but it also says no mistakes involved. Option B IMO is a better option since it gives more than 1 reason to be audited and not just because of the year factor. Again the stem seems to be incomplete here I feel IMO.

Another fact being the final sentence reads "...filing their returns during that audit". Isn't it supposed to be like "...each of those audits"?

Another fact being the final sentence reads "...filing their returns during that audit". Isn't it supposed to be like "...each of those audits"?

AbhishekP220108 · Answer

Hi  Adit_  Let me try to help

The people who are least likely to be audited by the Internal Revenue Service this year are those who have been audited since 1985 and who were found to have made no mistakes in filing their returns during that audit.

We have given the condition about the people who will be least likely to be audited—audited since 1985 and made no mistakes in filling their return during that audit by the IRS.

So who are the likely ones—persons audited before 1985, persons audited before 1985 and who made mistakes during filling, and persons audited since 1985 and with at least 1 mistake during filling?

Of the following people, who is MOST likely to be audited by the IRS?

Let's evaluate the choice

(A) A person who was audited in 1986 but was not found to have made any mistakes in filing his return.- Satisfies the condition hence No

(B) A person who was audited in 1986 and whose lawyer corrected several mistakes in the tax return prior to the filing deadline.- Since you are vouching for B, let's check. Audited in 1986 (matches 1st condition), whose lawyer corrected several mistakes in the tax return prior to the filing deadline (mistakes were found by the lawyer and corrected before the filing deadline, which implies he filled the return by correcting several mistakes), and as you stated, fraud was involved. Well, we can't interpret mistakes as fraud; mistakes may have occurred while writing the numbers, so we are going to an extreme saying there was fraud involved. And yes, it can be suspicious. Let's keep it for now

(C) A person whose spouse was convicted of tax fraud in 1987, who was then audited and found to have made no mistakes. Satisfies the condition hence No

(D) A person who was last audited in 1984, and had no mistakes uncovered by the IRS during that audit. The 1st condition was not followed—it was specifically mentioned the least likely will be those who were audited since 1985, even if no mistakes were found during 1984. keep it

(E) A person who was audited in each of the past five years, but was found to have made no mistakes in any of the filings.- Past 5 years falls under the set of since 1985, hence satisfying the condition.

Let's check why D over B—To conclude B as most likely, we have to bring too many outer assumptions irrespective of the argument information, such as several mistakes with the actual number of mistakes. What if those identified mistakes are the only ones right? And I am afraid to say that we can't do it unless otherwise stated, whereas D is clearly lacking in one of the conditions, and hence, in comparison to B, D is most likely.

Hope this helps

The people who are least likely to be audited by the Internal Revenue

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The people who are least likely to be audited by the Internal Revenue

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