Recent budget cuts and substantial new congressional regulations have resulted in a new tactic by the IRS: the “Speed Up” audit. The IRS has limited resources and is pushing them to complete more audits in a shorter period of time. The result is known as a “speed up” audit process. We are seeing much shorter response times allowed by auditors when information is needed under the audit. More concerning, the system will often send a “second letter” that is received a day or two after the original threatening the taxpayer with the loss of their right to appeal the audit results, in effect attempting to force them into tax court.
These tactics are aggressive, and the IRS is simply trying to follow Commissioner Koskinen’s instruction to do more with less. This new speed up strategy, however, steps all over the new taxpayer’s rights put into place recently and we must aggressively protect our clients during audits.
An IRS audit is something you should never face alone. If you have been contacted by the IRS we invite you to contact us for a free consultation at 866-631-3470. Learn about the protections of the attorney-client privilege, and the experience and expertise Allen Barron can provide to save you time, money and duress during an IRS audit.
