Tax Audit Stories

My daily job can be routine and sometimes not so routine. Correspondence from the IRS can be unsettling, to say the least, for our members. Recently, a case came across my desk that was one of those “not so routine” cases. I was able to lend an ear to a person…

A few months ago I received a “Check the Box” audit for a married couple living in one of California’s most famous wine regions. The IRS was questioning the large mortgage interest expense deduction on their Schedule A. The members lived on a ten acre lot where their…

In August, I was assigned a case that was different from any other case I have ever worked. It was challenging in the way a serious jigsaw puzzling is challenging, and it required the same type of patience and commitment. The IRS had sent out a soft notice in July…

Often when assigned new cases, we find members who have made what initially appear to be insignificant errors and end up owing substantial amounts of tax. These errors are sometimes due to procrastination, misstatement, or incomplete understanding of the tax law, and the amounts owed can be staggering. Our member…

Most clients find out they have been the victim of return identity theft when they receive a notice from the IRS or a charge from a credit card company, but in a recent case one client found out he’d been the victim of identity theft when he got a check…

I received a new case in July. It was your typical Letter 566 exam questioning the member’s Employee Business Expenses. I did a quick review of the return and learned that the member had reported ten W2’s for income of $5,338, which seemed quite low compared to the $20,098 that…

This is an older case, but I wanted to share the story because I believe it is the largest dollar amount we have ever “saved” a member here at TaxAudit.com. It was August of 2006 when our member received a notice for a proposed balance due of $10.3 million. He…

Here are the “core values” stories from the final group of Membership Services Representatives, Team Diamonds. Each shows a commitment to providing our members with the very best customer service available while treating them with empathy and respect during a very stressful situation. April Arseneau There have been…

Here are more stories about how our Membership Services Representatives put our company’s core values into practice each day as they work tirelessly to reduce our members’ anxiety during one of the most stressful experiences of their lives. Joanna Michaelson Commitment/Service One of our Membership Services Reps had…

I asked the members of my team to tell a story about how they put our core values into practice each day in order to relieve our members from having to face one of life’s most intense emotional nightmares. Here’s what The Rubies Team − Ezra White, Sheri…

It’s not often that a taxpayer can disregard a court order, but a recent audit showed one of those rare instances. The IRS audited our members on the issue of the four dependents claimed on their tax return. Our members had claimed their divorced daughter and her three children,…

I just worked a challenging case involving a discrimination lawsuit settlement that one of our members received as a former employee. The IRS examiner insisted that self-employment tax should be assessed, and it was not easy to convince her to change her mind. During our first contact I explained that…

“You mean the case is closed with a zero balance due?” Tan asked. “Yes,” the IRS examiner said. Tan was pleasantly surprised. Even though he had sent in a well-organized response for our member, there had been documents missing from the package and not all of the deductions had been…

Winning is nice, but most prizes come with a price – from a tax standpoint, that is. At least this was the case for our member, an avid bass fisherman from Northern California. The member and his buddy had won first place in a fishing tournament, and their prize was…

We often hear stories about IRS examiners being unreasonable and difficult to deal with, but in my experience that’s not always how it goes. Here’s a story about an IRS agent who showed compassion for a taxpayer’s plight. The case was assigned to me in late July. Our member was an…

If there is any endeavor in life that embodies paperwork, files, paperwork, and more files it is our wonderful yearly tax dance. The importance of a comprehensive and complete tax file cannot be understated. We all want those helpful tax deductions; however, we must do our part as well. Creating a…

One of our core values here at TaxAudit.com is empathy. One of my colleagues, Mary Margosian, embodies this characteristic more than just about anyone I know. When one of our audit reps left the company, she took over a very difficult case. Her compassionate approach to the situation worked like…

My story began in May of 2011 when the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) was inquiring about the education expenses of my member. He lives in Canada and was taking online classes at University of Phoenix to earn his MBA. We had all necessary documents with the exception of Form TL11A,…

As Audit Rep Assistants, we are asked to perform many tasks, such as recreating tax returns, completing bank analyses and preparing response packages for the IRS. The time spent on these tasks ranges anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 days, depending on the…

Like clockwork, every year we are inundated with audits for Head of Household filing status, dependents and Earned Income Credit. Quite often, after just one phone call to the Member, we find out that the dependent claimed really wasn’t the taxpayer’s qualifying dependent at all because one or more of…

My daily job can be routine and sometimes not so routine. Correspondence from the IRS can be unsettling, to say the least, for our members. Recently, a case came across my desk that was one of those “not so routine” cases. I was able to lend an ear to a person…

A few months ago I received a “Check the Box” audit for a married couple living in one of California’s most famous wine regions. The IRS was questioning the large mortgage interest expense deduction on their Schedule A. The members lived on a ten acre lot where their…

In August, I was assigned a case that was different from any other case I have ever worked. It was challenging in the way a serious jigsaw puzzling is challenging, and it required the same type of patience and commitment. The IRS had sent out a soft notice in July…

Often when assigned new cases, we find members who have made what initially appear to be insignificant errors and end up owing substantial amounts of tax. These errors are sometimes due to procrastination, misstatement, or incomplete understanding of the tax law, and the amounts owed can be staggering. Our member…

Most clients find out they have been the victim of return identity theft when they receive a notice from the IRS or a charge from a credit card company, but in a recent case one client found out he’d been the victim of identity theft when he got a check…

I received a new case in July. It was your typical Letter 566 exam questioning the member’s Employee Business Expenses. I did a quick review of the return and learned that the member had reported ten W2’s for income of $5,338, which seemed quite low compared to the $20,098 that…

This is an older case, but I wanted to share the story because I believe it is the largest dollar amount we have ever “saved” a member here at TaxAudit.com. It was August of 2006 when our member received a notice for a proposed balance due of $10.3 million. He…

Here are the “core values” stories from the final group of Membership Services Representatives, Team Diamonds. Each shows a commitment to providing our members with the very best customer service available while treating them with empathy and respect during a very stressful situation. April Arseneau There have been…

Here are more stories about how our Membership Services Representatives put our company’s core values into practice each day as they work tirelessly to reduce our members’ anxiety during one of the most stressful experiences of their lives. Joanna Michaelson Commitment/Service One of our Membership Services Reps had…

I asked the members of my team to tell a story about how they put our core values into practice each day in order to relieve our members from having to face one of life’s most intense emotional nightmares. Here’s what The Rubies Team − Ezra White, Sheri…

It’s not often that a taxpayer can disregard a court order, but a recent audit showed one of those rare instances. The IRS audited our members on the issue of the four dependents claimed on their tax return. Our members had claimed their divorced daughter and her three children,…

I just worked a challenging case involving a discrimination lawsuit settlement that one of our members received as a former employee. The IRS examiner insisted that self-employment tax should be assessed, and it was not easy to convince her to change her mind. During our first contact I explained that…

“You mean the case is closed with a zero balance due?” Tan asked. “Yes,” the IRS examiner said. Tan was pleasantly surprised. Even though he had sent in a well-organized response for our member, there had been documents missing from the package and not all of the deductions had been…

Winning is nice, but most prizes come with a price – from a tax standpoint, that is. At least this was the case for our member, an avid bass fisherman from Northern California. The member and his buddy had won first place in a fishing tournament, and their prize was…

We often hear stories about IRS examiners being unreasonable and difficult to deal with, but in my experience that’s not always how it goes. Here’s a story about an IRS agent who showed compassion for a taxpayer’s plight. The case was assigned to me in late July. Our member was an…

If there is any endeavor in life that embodies paperwork, files, paperwork, and more files it is our wonderful yearly tax dance. The importance of a comprehensive and complete tax file cannot be understated. We all want those helpful tax deductions; however, we must do our part as well. Creating a…

One of our core values here at TaxAudit.com is empathy. One of my colleagues, Mary Margosian, embodies this characteristic more than just about anyone I know. When one of our audit reps left the company, she took over a very difficult case. Her compassionate approach to the situation worked like…

My story began in May of 2011 when the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) was inquiring about the education expenses of my member. He lives in Canada and was taking online classes at University of Phoenix to earn his MBA. We had all necessary documents with the exception of Form TL11A,…

As Audit Rep Assistants, we are asked to perform many tasks, such as recreating tax returns, completing bank analyses and preparing response packages for the IRS. The time spent on these tasks ranges anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 days, depending on the…

Like clockwork, every year we are inundated with audits for Head of Household filing status, dependents and Earned Income Credit. Quite often, after just one phone call to the Member, we find out that the dependent claimed really wasn’t the taxpayer’s qualifying dependent at all because one or more of…

My daily job can be routine and sometimes not so routine. Correspondence from the IRS can be unsettling, to say the least, for our members. Recently, a case came across my desk that was one of those “not so routine” cases. I was able to lend an ear to a person…

A few months ago I received a “Check the Box” audit for a married couple living in one of California’s most famous wine regions. The IRS was questioning the large mortgage interest expense deduction on their Schedule A. The members lived on a ten acre lot where their…

In August, I was assigned a case that was different from any other case I have ever worked. It was challenging in the way a serious jigsaw puzzling is challenging, and it required the same type of patience and commitment. The IRS had sent out a soft notice in July…

Often when assigned new cases, we find members who have made what initially appear to be insignificant errors and end up owing substantial amounts of tax. These errors are sometimes due to procrastination, misstatement, or incomplete understanding of the tax law, and the amounts owed can be staggering. Our member…

Most clients find out they have been the victim of return identity theft when they receive a notice from the IRS or a charge from a credit card company, but in a recent case one client found out he’d been the victim of identity theft when he got a check…

I received a new case in July. It was your typical Letter 566 exam questioning the member’s Employee Business Expenses. I did a quick review of the return and learned that the member had reported ten W2’s for income of $5,338, which seemed quite low compared to the $20,098 that…

This is an older case, but I wanted to share the story because I believe it is the largest dollar amount we have ever “saved” a member here at TaxAudit.com. It was August of 2006 when our member received a notice for a proposed balance due of $10.3 million. He…

Here are the “core values” stories from the final group of Membership Services Representatives, Team Diamonds. Each shows a commitment to providing our members with the very best customer service available while treating them with empathy and respect during a very stressful situation. April Arseneau There have been…

Here are more stories about how our Membership Services Representatives put our company’s core values into practice each day as they work tirelessly to reduce our members’ anxiety during one of the most stressful experiences of their lives. Joanna Michaelson Commitment/Service One of our Membership Services Reps had…

I asked the members of my team to tell a story about how they put our core values into practice each day in order to relieve our members from having to face one of life’s most intense emotional nightmares. Here’s what The Rubies Team − Ezra White, Sheri…

It’s not often that a taxpayer can disregard a court order, but a recent audit showed one of those rare instances. The IRS audited our members on the issue of the four dependents claimed on their tax return. Our members had claimed their divorced daughter and her three children,…

I just worked a challenging case involving a discrimination lawsuit settlement that one of our members received as a former employee. The IRS examiner insisted that self-employment tax should be assessed, and it was not easy to convince her to change her mind. During our first contact I explained that…

“You mean the case is closed with a zero balance due?” Tan asked. “Yes,” the IRS examiner said. Tan was pleasantly surprised. Even though he had sent in a well-organized response for our member, there had been documents missing from the package and not all of the deductions had been…

Winning is nice, but most prizes come with a price – from a tax standpoint, that is. At least this was the case for our member, an avid bass fisherman from Northern California. The member and his buddy had won first place in a fishing tournament, and their prize was…

We often hear stories about IRS examiners being unreasonable and difficult to deal with, but in my experience that’s not always how it goes. Here’s a story about an IRS agent who showed compassion for a taxpayer’s plight. The case was assigned to me in late July. Our member was an…

If there is any endeavor in life that embodies paperwork, files, paperwork, and more files it is our wonderful yearly tax dance. The importance of a comprehensive and complete tax file cannot be understated. We all want those helpful tax deductions; however, we must do our part as well. Creating a…

One of our core values here at TaxAudit.com is empathy. One of my colleagues, Mary Margosian, embodies this characteristic more than just about anyone I know. When one of our audit reps left the company, she took over a very difficult case. Her compassionate approach to the situation worked like…

My story began in May of 2011 when the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) was inquiring about the education expenses of my member. He lives in Canada and was taking online classes at University of Phoenix to earn his MBA. We had all necessary documents with the exception of Form TL11A,…

As Audit Rep Assistants, we are asked to perform many tasks, such as recreating tax returns, completing bank analyses and preparing response packages for the IRS. The time spent on these tasks ranges anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 days, depending on the…

Like clockwork, every year we are inundated with audits for Head of Household filing status, dependents and Earned Income Credit. Quite often, after just one phone call to the Member, we find out that the dependent claimed really wasn’t the taxpayer’s qualifying dependent at all because one or more of…