The New York Times published an article on the recent decision by the IRS to audit more people in the “middle class” bracket than they ever have before. One consequence of this is that most of the people who will be investigated by the IRS are involved in small business in some form or another:

Middle-class Americans most likely to have their tax returns examined under the new strategy are those who own a business, even a side business, or are landlords or have investment income. There is little or no independent reporting of such income; the I.R.S. has proposed increased verification and some withholding of payments to independent contractors to reduce cheating, but Congress has not moved on any of those suggestions.

Middle-class taxpayers who file a Schedule C — freelancers, consultants and very small businesses — are three times as likely to be audited as those in the same income group with no such business income.

What most surprises me is that this decision comes at a time when starting and maintaining a small business is a much more difficult undertaking than it has been in the past; this difficulty is the main reason why America’s Best Companies was founded. Strangely, they seem most eager to go after those who have the most unstable incomes.