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On this tax day, we'd like to highlight the fact that the IRS audits the tax returns of nearly every large company in manufacturing, mining, heavy construction and agriculture, but just a fifth of big banks, insurance companies and brokerage firms. This from a recently released report form TRAC - an independent, non-partisan research group from Syracuse University.

When it comes to audits, the large corporations providing the American people with investment advice, various kinds of banking and credit services and insurance are subject to a lot less scrutiny by the IRS than corporations in other lines of business.

Other highlights of their three-year study include:

On an annual basis, less than one in five of the large corporations falling into the IRS's financial services category were audited during FY 2002, 2003 and 2004.

For the big communication, technology and media corporations, more than three out of five were audited.

When it came to the very large businesses in the retailing, food, pharmaceuticals and health care businesses, four out of five faced IRS audits.

Considered together, for all the corporations with assets at or above $250 million, about one out of three were audited.

The corporations subjected to this diverse treatment by the IRS are an extremely small but powerful part of the economy. During a recent filing period, the 10,989 returns they sent to the agency represented only a fraction of all corporate filings -- 0.2% of the total. Despite their small numbers, however, these organizations controlled 90% of all corporate assets and received 87% of all the corporate income.

This is a fascinating study from a very comprehensive, useful web site.

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