The IRS is supposed to be accessible to taxpayers. That is why the agency’s Taxpayer Advocate service is starting to conduct a pilot project on the use of teleconferences between case workers and taxpayers who have questions. IRS audits are another possible forum for video conferences. Nina Olson, the National Taxpayer […]
Category: Audits
A basic principle of the tax collection system should be fairness. For the system to work, people of all income levels -rich, poor and middle class alike – should get equal treatment from the IRS. And yet IRS audits are very much skewed toward higher income taxpayers. That is what the evidence […]
An IRS audit isn’t a criminal proceeding in which the right to confront accusers literally applies. There is still a big difference, however, between face-to-face IRS audits on the one hand, and so-called “corr exams” (correspondence-based exams) on the other. This week, the National Taxpayer Advocate questioned the increasing use of correspondence […]
For years, the American marketplace has been evolving toward a workforce in which more and more people are not traditional employees. The ranks of contractors, freelancers, consultants and assorted vendors have grown for many reasons, and the downsizing unleashed by the Great Recession only accelerated this trend. There are many […]
Be proactive, Stephen F. Covey urged his readers in “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” Over twenty years after the book’s firs publication, this remains excellent advice. Applying it to tax preparation makes good sense, too. This includes taking all reasonable steps to avoid IRS audits. Some of those steps […]
The digital revolution is underway everywhere in America. The payment of taxes, and the administration of the tax system by the IRS, are certainly not exceptions to this. In fact, increased use of technology may make IRS tax audits more likely. According to a recent report by the national taxpayer advocate, the […]
No one in Texas hopes to get a notification telling them their tax return is being audited. The very mention of an audit is dreaded by most people. Not only that, but if an audit is not handled properly, it can be extremely stressful and sometimes result in an even bigger tax […]