Receiving a notice from the IRS is potentially one of the most shocking experiences you will ever have. Resist the temptation to ignore it and instead get the help you need to survive the audit. Ignoring the IRS will only compound the problem. Here are nine helpful tips for surviving an audit.
1. Don t Ignore It. It just bears repeating. Ignoring the problem will not make it go away. The notice you receive will inform you of an expected response time, which is typically thirty days. If you don t respond within the specified time frame, the next piece of mail you receive from the IRS will probably be a bill.
2. The notice you receive will outline the information that you re expected to take with you to the audit.
3. As you re preparing for the audit, be sure to organize all the information that you need to take with you, including any relevant adding machine tape. You can organize the information in whatever way is most helpful to you, just as long as you can put your hands on it quickly and easily during the audit. Not only will this organization help the audit go more quickly, but it will also make you look competent and responsible in front of the auditor.
4. It may be that you don t have some of the documents that are required for the audit. Make sure you make every attempt to get your hands on those documents as quickly as possible. Just because you don t have them at your disposal doesn t mean it s not your responsibility to provide them.
5. Don t take anything over and above what the IRS has asked you to provide. Don t give the auditor a chance to look over any additional information that was not requested. If the auditor inquires about other documents that were not required for the audit, let them know that you don t have that particular information at hand.
6. Remain polite, calm, and courteous throughout the audit interview. No matter how flustered you feel or how unfair you think the process is, stay calm. Don t become overly emotional.
7. Don t give the auditor the original documents. Make copies and give those copies to the auditor instead. If you don t make copies and those documents are lost during the audit process, you ll never be able to get them again. If the auditor doesn t want to take the copies that you provide, ask him or her to make copies of the originals there during the audit.
8. Don t say more than you need to. If it s possible, don t answer with anything other than yes or no. Any additional information you provide is just extra ammunition that the IRS can use against you. Unnecessary verbal information provided during the interview can lead to a request for more documentation.
9. Before you even step into the auditor s office, spend some time familiarizing yourself with your rights as a taxpayer. Don t be afraid to assert those rights in front of the auditor, but remember to remain as emotionally detached as possible. And remember that you can always appeal the results of an audit if those results don t suit you.
If you find yourself the subject of an IRS audit, don t panic. You can survive the audit on your own, but your best option is to hire a tax attorney to represent you. The tax attorney can field all correspondence that the IRS sends to you, help you prepare all the documents required for an audit, and accompany you to the audit to advocate on your behalf. But you don t have to wait until you receive a notice from the IRS to hire a tax attorney. Hiring one to help you manage your tax situation can actually prevent an audit in the first place since tax attorneys can help you organize your finances such that your paperwork doesn t attract the attention of the IRS.
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