What are the primary concerns and considerations of an IRS audit? What exactly is its fundamental and overriding purpose? Is it — as an Internal Revenue Service communiqué recently stated — “a deterrent to … potentially noncompliant taxpayers,” or is it primarily and foremost a tool to generate much need revenues for the US Treasury?
Without a doubt the primary goal of an IRS audit is to increase tax revenue for the US Treasury. Therefore, the primary concerns and considerations of an IRS audit should be to limit the scope of the audit itself and to carefully manage all communications with the agency, as well as the information provided in response to IRS inquiries.
It may surprise you to learn that the vast majority of IRS auditors are not accountants. They are not experts in the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) applied. In many cases our primary responsibility is to explain the genuine accounting process and principles applied to the numbers in a tax return and how they are therefore accurate.
It is obviously reasonable that any tax-paying American might feel more than a nervous when informed that he or she is on the receiving end of an IRS or California audit. It is important to remember the extraordinary powers these agencies hold to levy your bank account(s), garnish your wages and attach liens to your home, business and other assets.
The simple fact is IRS and California tax agents must act within the law and GAAP. This is why it is so important to work with experienced San Diego tax attorney Janathan Allen and the accounting professionals at Allen Barron. We advocate diligently on behalf of clients to ensure that government auditors and revenue officers conduct their activities within the legal scope of an audit.
We carefully manage every aspect of an audit or inquiry and the information provided to an agency. We thoroughly understand the primary concerns and considerations of an IRS audit for both the agency and our clients. Learn about the protections of the attorney-client privilege and how the team at Allen Barron and Janathan Allen work to protect our clients, provides sound counsel and advice, manage all communications with the IRS or California tax agency and educate our clients on the process and how to achieve the best possible outcome. We invite you to contact Allen Barron or call us today to schedule a free consultation at 866-631-3740.
