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As the Obama Administration seeks backing for a tax on banks' lucrative pay packages, the Internal Revenue Service has been stepping up its oversight of executive pay through its auditing and other powers.

President Barack Obama needs the U.S. Congress to help him pass the 10-year $90 billion tax on bank executive compensation, but the tax agency had already been bearing down on lavish pay and perks across industries on several fronts.

Next month, the IRS begins an effort to audit 6,000 companies with a focus on their employment policies, including fringe benefits and officers' compensation. The IRS has also taken an increasingly tough stance on deductions companies take for highly paid executives and how deferral of pay by such executives is treated.

"The IRS knows that there is considerable noncompliance with regards to employment taxes," said Anthony Arcidiacono, of Ernst & Young, who spent three decades at IRS as an agent.

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman has made tax evasion by high-wealth individuals and corporations a priority. Last year, the agency formed a new unit to study structures created by high-net worth individuals to avoid

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By Kim Dixon