Tax Problems >> Tax Return Filing & Audits >>Audits >> Audit Representation
A federal or state tax audit typically begins with a letter stating that a return or group of returns have been selected for an examination. Receiving a letter of this nature can be very disheartening, especially if you are not well advised of how your return was prepared or if you suspect that you may not have the documentation needed to support all the amounts reported.
Just because a return is audited doesn't mean that it may not be correct. An income tax return is usually selected for examination because of one of the following:
- Income items that were reported to the taxing authorities are mistakenly omitted from the tax return filed, thus making the omissions apparent;
- Certain relationships of some items to others within the same return suggest the likelihood of irregularities (based on a numerically calculated DIF score); or
- Other information comes to the attention of the taxing authorities that indicates that a return may have substantially incorrect amounts reported.
Sometimes returns that are perfectly prepared will still be selected for audit.
Not only can an audit be a lot of work to handle, but an uninformed taxpayer can do a great disservice to their own case by trying to represent themselves. Self-representation is generally not something that would be recommended for a taxpayer to attempt. Even if you've been absolutely honest and all of your documents are in good order, meeting with the IRS yourself can be intimidating and can lead to additional tax assessments that might possibly have been avoided with proper professional representation.
Fortunately, our firm can manage all aspects of your audit so that you don't even have to meet with the taxing authorities. We can help you reconstruct lost or missing documents and support items using alternative sources of documentation, such as third-party affidavits, etc. when typical records are not available.
In addition to income tax audits, we can also handle your payroll, sales or other business tax audits of practically any kind. Our representatives have dealt with a number of cases wherein good business records have not been maintained, yet we have found alternative ways to get favorable end results.
Contact our office to discuss how we may be able to assist you.
