When you received a notice that you were going to be audited, you were concerned. While you had filed your taxes in the past several years, you did them yourself. You know that there could be errors to worry about.
If an audit has you worried, it may be time to talk to your attorney about taking steps to protect yourself. You can prepare in advance for the audit, and you can be prepared for potential outcomes.
One of the first things to do is to prepare as much documentation for the IRS as possible. In some cases, the audit might be a correspondence-only audit, where you only exchange mail with the IRS tax auditor. In other situations, you may need to meet with the auditor.
It is sometimes a good idea not to reach out to the Internal Revenue Service yourself or to go to an audit without representation. You don’t want to say or do anything that could end up causing more problems for you. Additionally, speaking with a professional before the IRS gives you the opportunity to pull records and get together documents that they need for the purpose of the audit.
In the end, if you did make mistakes, the IRS may ask you to pay back what you owe. Not all errors will turn into a legal issue, but you may want to seek out an offer in compromise or other options if the audit causes you to owe money to the government. Our website has more on how to protect yourself if you’ve been notified that an audit is going to take place.