Criteria used by the IRS to choose candidates to audit are a secret held tighter than any at the CIA. A letter notifying you of a clerical mistake or calculation is not an audit notification. These communications are simply IRS clerical staff who, when processing returns, spot simple mistakes. When receiving one of these, quickly address the changes requested. Forward the amended return back to the IRS and go on with your life. A taxpayer will never know but this interchange may remove a taxpayer from the audit list. (more…)

They work for you, taxpayer! But the minute your tax return is filed, they or their company becomes potential IRS enablers. (more…)

Here are two suggestions to help taxpayers avoid receiving one of the 10 million audit notices due to be dropped in the mail. The first suggestion is guaranteed and the second is less than pure speculation. (more…)

In the next two years your mailbox may contain one of 10 million special invitations to experience the dark side of federal government. The invite comes in the form of a notice by the Internal Revenue Service to audit your tax returns. You will have the potential to dive into an economic black hole. 400,000 taxpayers will receive a bonus audit. Labeled by the speech police in Washington as a hard audit it is really an extended trip visiting up to six years of your personal and business tax returns. (more…)

The executive and congressional branches of the federal government working together are in the late stages of delivering themselves two large gifts. Middle-class Americans and so-called small businesses once more will be tapped to pay for their largess. The feds are already so deep into family and small business taxpayers that they can feel that hole in a citizen’s sock are now prepared to present to gifts for themselves. (more…)

The Scarlet Letter was a fictional work set in the 17th century, about Puritan Boston and its society. The scarlet letter was an A, identifying a person who had committed adultery. This century for the IRS the leading indicator of a potential taxpayer whose audit could yield more funds to be given to the federal coffer the scarlet letter is C. (more…)

Google has no map to display your road to audit hell. The IRS will give you a Texas two-step map. Step one: the IRS audits, up to six years. step two: taxpayer pays. (more…)

Attorneys are your third choice to lead your team. Do not follow Shakespeare’s advice when he pontificated kill all the lawyers! (more…)

In part one of this series, we discovered as head of the family or family business you are not the right one to be team leader. The next candidate for the job is your accountant. Tax accountants or firms come in several different varieties. Generally they do an excellent job. The key decision you, taxpayer, must make is which of these types is best to assist you in your IRS audit challenge. There are 3 types of accountants you can use. (more…)

Prior to making a decision on team leadership, you must pick a team. What are your choices?

Will it just be you, head of the family and business? Will it be you and your accountant? Do you need legal representation as a part of your team? (more…)