The IRS has thousands of new agents and audits are said to be up 54%. A news report says many audits of small businesses aren't turning up much in the way of violations. That's little comfort if you're notified on the Friday before a holiday that they're going to audit you.
IRS will give you an idea of what the audit is about to avoid surprises and wasting time with issues in which they have no interest. A disorganized pile of paper will not make the IRS throw up its hands and walk away.
The report said that if you're notified of an audit, gather all pertinent documents and notify your CPA of the date and time. Treat IRS employees with courtesy and they'll be more likely to listen and understand your explanation of matters.
Even if auditors find no violations of the tax laws, the experience can be traumatic. It takes you out of the mainstream of creating customer satisfaction and is a very negative experience. It also can be very costly in accounting and legal time if yours is a large company.
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