IRS Audits

The audit may have been truly random, and not because of a mistake on your return, or the “mistake” may be a simple misunderstanding or mis-categorization of some type. If you have filed or believe that you have filed your tax returns correctly, then you have nothing to worry about. Just because you get selected for an IRS audit does not mean that you have done anything wrong. An audit by the Internal Revenue Service is nothing more than an examination of a taxpayer’s tax returns to determine if reported information is correct. Will it cost you money? Perhaps. Is it the end of the world, no, it’s not regardless of how well your taxes were documented.

Even if you receive notice of an audit then you have the protection of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights which protects you against unfair treatment by Internal Revenue Service auditors.

The best first step to take when contacted by an IRS auditor is tell them you to seek legal counsel before going any further in answering any of his or her questions or providing any documentation to him or her. Seeking counsel, does not and cannot imply guilt of any kind. Even if you have nothing to hide you are entitled to have a tax attorney working with you, the auditor knows that and should not imply guilt into your request. Do not share any information with the auditor because no matter how nice the auditor may be, he or she is there to do their job. And that job involves finding inaccuracies in your information.