A few things send a chill of panic into your heart, like finding an audit notice from the IRS in your mail. While many of these letters are simple requests for information, like a copy of your 1099, official IRS audits can be panic-inducing events. To make it through an audit successfully, you need to understand what the auditor is looking for, avoid the pitfalls of divulging too much or too little information, and pass a highly trained professional’s scrutiny.

Navigating the audit process requires careful handling and professional representation. Hiring experienced tax professionals can help you manage the complexities and provide proactive solutions.

Lothamer’s CPAs, tax professionals, and experienced IRS audit consultants have navigated hundreds of audits, successfully representing clients through audit defenses, appeals, and tax debt disputes. We conduct an exhaustive and private review of your financial records in our office before the scheduled audit date to uncover any potential problem areas. Then, we manage all correspondence and meet with the IRS on your behalf, letting them know you are serious about defending your tax return.

If the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is auditing you, one of the most important early pieces of advice we can offer is NOT to allow an auditor into your home or place of business. Auditors are trained to gather information about your lifestyle, standard of living, and other information not necessarily related to your tax return. Allowing them to profile you by surveying your property could increase the scope of your tax audit.

Hiring an experienced tax professional for legal representation is crucial during this process.

Allow Lothamer to represent you instead—we have decades of experience dealing with auditors and representing clients before the IRS. We understand the best practices for what to say and how to say it, drawing the eye of the IRS only where it needs to go. We rarely have our clients meet with the IRS or attend an audit. One of the best defenses is to limit the scope of the audit, and no one knows how to do this better than Lothamer. We strongly recommend contacting us before speaking with or meeting with your auditor. We can help you compile and file all necessary paperwork, including requests for an extension of your audit appointment, on the same day you engage our services. In the case of missing records, we often reconstruct the accounting records to arrive at the true taxable income.