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Racial Inequality In The U.S. Tax System : 1A Tax season is here and a new study is shedding light on inequalities in our tax system. Black taxpayers are at least three times more likely to be audited by the I.R.S than other taxpayers.

The study, which was a collaboration between the University of Michigan, Stanford, the University of Chicago, and the U.S Treasury Department, is one of the most detailed ever on race and the tax system.

The reason for this racial disparity isn't what you'd expect. The IRS isn't targeting Black taxpayers — the agency doesn't keep data on race. But the outdated algorithms it's using are.

Lack of funding is another problem.

We speak with a co-author of the study and a leading expert on race and the tax system later in the hour. First, we talk about funding.

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Racial Inequality In The U.S. Tax System

Racial Inequality In The U.S. Tax System

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View of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington, DC. STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

View of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington, DC.

STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

Tax season is here and a new study is shedding light on inequalities in our tax system. Black taxpayers are at least three times more likely to be audited by the I.R.S than other taxpayers.

The study, which was a collaboration between the University of Michigan, Stanford, the University of Chicago, and the U.S Treasury Department, is one of the most detailed ever on race and the tax system.

The reason for this racial disparity isn't what you'd expect. The IRS isn't targeting Black taxpayers — the agency doesn't keep data on race. But the outdated algorithms it's using are.

Lack of funding is another problem.

We speak with a co-author of the study and a leading expert on race and the tax system later in the hour.

Emory University law professor Dorothy Brown and Stanford University law professor and co-author of the study on race and auditing Daniel Ho join us for the conversation.

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