The Audit Defense Dream Team

On July 30th, 2018, I was assigned to an office audit. My member was reasonably frantic as he had just received the notice and the deadline to schedule an appointment was that same day. There was much to do, and time was ticking. Once a Power of Attorney form was completed, I reached out to the auditor and was granted an extension. The auditor also adjusted the audit from "office" to "correspondence," which meant that an in-person appointment would no longer be required. With that settled, I let the member know what our next steps would be and got to work.

The notice was proposing a balance due of $168,972.64, including a $26,584 penalty and $9,468.64 in interest. Based on the exam report, the IRS was disallowing $33,545 of car & truck expenses, and another $281,957 for supplies, on the member's Schedule C. Additionally, $50,718 in itemized deductions was under question. I informed the member of my findings and explained what documents we would need to substantiate his claims. The member worked intently to send in the requested paperwork, and over the next couple of weeks, our ARAs and ADAs spent many hours reorganizing them. I drafted a robust response and, with the member's approval, sent it off to the IRS on August 17th. I checked in with the auditor regularly and relayed updates to my member. Finally, on December 17th, we received a letter from the auditor with a "no change" ruling and a balance due of $0.00!

The success of this case, though astonishing, is not uncommon at TaxAudit. It is only through team dedication and commitment to a shared goal that results like this can be attained. The member reported the IRS correspondence upon receipt. From there, our Membership Services team asked the right questions and immediately pushed the case forward. Our team of Audit Coordinators reviewed the notice and assigned a tax professional based on the member’s specific needs. From there the case was sent to me, and with help from our ARAs and ADAs, we submitted a detailed and orderly response. From start to finish, we worked diligently, and − most importantly − we worked together.