TAX NOTICES and AUDITS

Have you received a letter or notice from a tax agency and don’t know what to do next? The response you need to provide might be simple, or it might be very complex. We can help you interpret what the IRS is asking for so you can respond to the letter appropriately and put this behind you. An IRS letter can be triggered in several situations:

• The agency notices a discrepancy on any of your tax returns and needs an explanation.
• An amount paid is short or over what the IRS or another tax agency calculates as due.
• You have been selected for an audit.
• You miss a payment deadline for taxes due.
• You miss a deadline for filing tax returns.
• You fail to respond to previous correspondence.

Please note: The IRS will never send you an email about any of the above situations. They always send physical letters. If you get an email, it’s a scam.

If it’s a discrepancy letter or balance due, the response can be fairly simple to craft and send. It’s always a good idea to get a tax professional to review or develop any response you need to send to the IRS. If you’re being audited, you will need to get ready for your meeting. The IRS officer has probably asked for certain records. A tax professional can help you get ready and can guide you as to what you should be willing to provide to the IRS and what you shouldn’t. One example is if the IRS asks for your QuickBooks file or online access and you have several years of data in there. You only want to provide the IRS officer with the year in question; otherwise you’ll open yourself up to more scrutiny than you want.

An audit can be extremely nerve-wracking. You can get relief by having a tax professional on your side, walking you through the entire process.