Top Ten IRS Tips

Dealing With the IRS

  1. Don’t ignore the situation. If you receive a notice from the IRS requesting certain information, don’t panic. Sometimes, a missing page or single piece of information is all that is required to satisfy the IRS.
  2. Respond promptly. Whatever the situation, be sure to respond to any notice from the IRS in a timely manner. Penalties will typically result for ignoring the IRS
  3. Hire a certified tax accountant to help you. A professional can let you know where you stand on your taxes. He will let you know just how bad (or benign) the situation really is. Of course, the best way to deal with the IRS is to hire a tax professional before you are audited.
  4. Get organized! Sort through all of your documents. Figure out which records need to be kept, and for how long. Consider a dedicated storage facility, or records management firm to keep track of everything.
  5. Fill any gaps in your records. Complete records are a vital part of dealing with the IRS. Saying “I lost the receipt” doesn’t really cut it as far as the government is concerned.
  6. Give the IRS any records they ask for. Don’t try to hide anything. The IRS will find out, or they will make estimates which are not in your favor.
  7. Don’t give the IRS any records they don’t ask for. Documents which aren’t relevant to the case only give the IRS more ways to investigate you.
  8. Be Polite! The IRS are people too. An IRS agent who doesn’t like you personally may be more apt to push his investigation further.
  9. Make copies of required documents, and give the copies to the IRS. You will probably not get these papers back.
  10. Know the law, and know your rights. You have the right to appeal any audit conducted by the IRS. These appeals, however, have to be grounded in tax law. An experienced lawyer or accountant may be able to show errors committed in your audit, or help explain a complicated accounting situation. On the other hand, an appeal will only draw more attention and scrutiny towards your case.

In this article, we have reviewed Top Ten IRS Tips for Dealing with the IRS.