Question

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audited 1,242,479 individual tax returns in the year 2013. What is the probability that your tax return was not selected for an audit in 2013? Assume you only filed one individual tax return that year and assume that returns are selected for audits at random.

A. 0.987
B. 0.012
C. 0.001
D. 0.876

Answer 1

The probability that your tax return was not selected for an audit in 2013 is 0.987 (Option A).

Step-by-step explanation:

Total number of tax returns audited: 1,242,479

Total number of individual tax returns (assuming one per person): 1

Probability of not being audited: (Total not audited / Total possible) = (Total possible - Total audited) / Total possible

Probability of not being audited: (1 - 1,242,479 / 1,242,480) = 0.999999195

Rounding to three decimal places: 0.999

Thus, the probability of not being audited is 0.999, which is closest to 0.987 (Option A).