While the IRS does not collect information about race from taxpayers, the report shows that the agency disproportionately flags tax returns that claim the EITC for potential errors.

Daniel E. Ho, who led the research team at Stanford, told CNN that his group does not have access to how the IRS conducts audit selection but that the research pointed to the EITC and a “focus on lower dollar, higher certainty claims as opposed to lower certainty, higher dollar value claims” as factors for the disparities.