Tax Audit Defense

If you are selected for an audit you have no choice but to follow through with it. Two things you should strive for in the audit are to minimize the financial impact and to prevent the IRS from investigating beyond the initial items and tax years selected for audit.

We meet you in person and vigorously and creatively defend you against the audit. We are often able to minimize audit issues and close audits quickly.  Below are some tax audit tips to make it through the audit and come out with the best outcome possible.

  1. Delay when possible. Postponing the audit usually works to your advantage. Request more time whenever you need it to get your records in order, or for any other reason. Don’t rush the audit process: Tax audits can be tedious and time-consuming. The auditor will conduct a thorough audit and detailed examination of your records. Be sure your records and transactions are documented properly so that you avoid wasting your time and that of the auditor.
  2. Don’t host the auditor. Keep the auditor from holding the audit at your business or home. Instead, have the audit in our law office. The government cannot decline having the audit meeting in our office. Do NOT entertain a request for a field audit at your home or office.
  3. Don’t answer unless asked. Give the auditor no more information than she is entitled to, and don’t talk any more during the audit than is absolutely necessary. Don’t give copies of other years’ tax returns to the auditor. In fact, don’t bring to an audit any documents that do not pertain to the year under audit or were not specifically requested by the audit notice.
  4. Appeal the results. When you get the examination report, call the auditor if you don’t understand or agree with it. Meet with her or her manager to see if you can reach a compromise. If you can’t live with an audit result, we can appeal or go on to tax court.
  5. Consult the services of a professional: A tax attorney can represent you at an audit. They are officially trained in tax law and can therefore represent you with far better results than you could hope to achieve on your own. It is hard to imagine a more tedious, costly and non-productive process than the tax audit. And depending on your confidence level of the audit process and the documentation you keep, you may want to seek the advice and services of a tax attorney who has knowledge in organizing documents to defend a tax audit. We will organize all necessary documents to facilitate your tax audit and have it done quickly and efficiently. We will also advise you of any pending problems concerning your audit.
  6. Write things down and maintain good records: Develop the habit of keeping and maintaining primary and secondary records all year-round. Primary records are things like bills and receipts. While secondary records could be anything from spreadsheets to mileage logs, and any other sort of summary info that might be important.  Haven’t kept records for the tax year in question? The solution is quite simple, you need to go back to that year and try to recreate those records as accurately as you can. If you’ve claimed any expenses in certain areas, e.g. medical expenses, it is possible that your doctor or hospital still have your medical records on file. You can also call up your place of employment and ask for duplicate W-2s or 1099 forms. You can check with the mortgage company for your interest expenses for that year. Once you have all you can collect, put everything it all in a neat and simple format, summarized and with supporting documentation for the auditor to have a look at.

The IRS is represented by an army of attorneys. You should be represented by a qualified Tax Attorney when facing a tax audit.  In many cases, we are able to minimize audit issues and close the audit quickly. Contact our tax law firm to discuss your tax matter today.