Welcome. Before You Begin:
Understanding your IRS audit, tax notice, proposed adjustment, collection matter, or request to extend the assessment period requires careful attention to timing and process. We are here to help. As you evaluate the information below, you remain in control of your decisions, with a clearer understanding of the deadlines and options that may affect your case.
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What is the first thing you need to know if you are contacted by the IRS with a request for information?
The IRS is not asking to speak with you or requesting information because of an irrelevant or minor matter. If the agency identifies a minor mistake that it can correct from the information already available, it may simply adjust your tax return and send you a notice reporting the resulting refund or amount owed.
If you have received a letter or another form of contact from the IRS requesting information, a little red warning light should go off in your mind. You should never communicate directly with the IRS.
The request means the agency wants information it does not presently have, or wants you to explain, verify, or substantiate information that may affect its position. You may not know what prompted the request, what the IRS already knows, or how your answers and documents may be used. What appears to be a simple question may be part of a broader examination of your tax return, financial affairs, or potential tax liability.
The information you provide can become part of the IRS's record. Your answers may lead to additional questions, requests for more documents, or an expansion of the matters under examination. An explanation offered in good faith may create inconsistencies or disclose information that strengthens the agency's position. Once information has been provided, you cannot simply take it back because you later recognize its significance.
The agency likely suspects that something is incorrect. Any information you provide at that point that is inaccurate or false can and will be used against you. It can also lead to substantial penalties and, in some cases, potential criminal exposure. This is why you should never communicate directly with the IRS. An experienced tax attorney can evaluate the request, review the relevant facts and records, and manage the response before you make statements or provide information that may affect the outcome of your case.
The warning light does not mean you have done anything wrong. It means you should understand the nature of the request and protect your interests before providing information or making statements. Our experienced tax attorney, Janathan Allen, can review the contact, determine what the IRS is seeking, evaluate the information and deadlines involved, and manage the response on your behalf.
A Recent Client Experience Illustrates Why This Precaution Matters
A couple nearing retirement received a letter from the IRS requesting information. Believing they had nothing to hide and wanting to be cooperative, they agreed to speak with the agency and even invited the IRS agent into their home to discuss the matter. Their intentions were simple: they were happy to help and wanted to be good citizens.
This is a specific example of why it is never, ever in your best interests to speak with or provide information to the IRS directly. The couple had the best of intentions, but their willingness to cooperate did not protect them from the consequences of the examination.
The lesson is not that taxpayers should refuse to cooperate with the IRS. It is that cooperation should be managed through experienced tax counsel, who can evaluate the agency's requests, review the relevant information, and protect the taxpayer's interests throughout the process.
If the IRS has contacted you, click on the chat module on this page, call Allen Barron at 866-631-3470 or contact our office for a free, thorough consultation. We can help you understand what is happening and determine the most appropriate way to respond while protecting your rights and available options.
What are the Protections of the Attorney Client Privilege?
Why should you call or contact our office instead of a CPA, accounting firm, tax preparer, or financial advisor? Quite simply, because of the protections provided by the attorney-client privilege. Our lead attorney, Janathan L. Allen, works with the CPAs and tax and accounting specialists at Allen Barron to provide the accounting and tax preparation services you would receive from other professionals—with one critical difference: you can obtain those services within an attorney-led relationship that provides the protections of the attorney-client privilege.
The IRS can subpoena correspondence, notes, documents, receipts, emails, text messages, phone messages, and other communications you have shared with a CPA, tax preparer, or financial advisor, and those professionals may be required to comply. The IRS can then use your own information and the notes of those professionals against you. This is why the professional you contact first matters. By calling Allen Barron, you can begin with an experienced tax attorney who understands how to protect your interests while coordinating the accounting and tax assistance your situation requires.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU NEED TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
The greatest risk you face, and your strongest opportunity to achieve a successful outcome, is not at some later stage of an IRS examination or appeal. It is right now, before you respond to the agency's request for information.
What you say, what you provide, and the decisions you make during the earliest stages of an IRS matter can affect the scope of the examination, the agency's findings, and the options available to you later. Information provided in good faith may reveal inconsistencies, lead to additional questions, or strengthen the IRS's position. Once disclosed, that information cannot simply be taken back.
You should never communicate directly with the IRS. The appropriate response is not to ignore the agency, but to have an experienced tax attorney from Janathan L. Allen, Inc. evaluate the request, protect your interests, and manage the communications on your behalf.
This Is Why You Need to Speak With an Experienced San Diego IRS Tax Attorney
Our lead attorney, Janathan L. Allen, can help you understand why the IRS has contacted you, what information the agency is seeking, and what may be at stake. She can review the notice or request, identify applicable deadlines, evaluate the relevant facts and records, and determine the most appropriate way to respond.
Working with an experienced tax attorney also allows you to begin discussing your situation within an attorney-led relationship that provides the protections of the attorney-client privilege. Janathan can coordinate with the CPAs and tax and accounting specialists at Allen Barron while managing communications with the IRS and determining what information should be provided.
The objective is to understand the situation before you make statements, disclose information, or agree to decisions that may be difficult to undo.
Preserve Your Records and Understand What the IRS Is Requesting
Preserve the notice, correspondence, tax returns, financial records, and other information that may relate to the IRS's request. Do not assume that a particular document is irrelevant, and do not attempt to reconstruct or explain information before understanding what the agency is examining.
Your attorney can help identify what information is available, what may be missing, and what additional records may be needed. This preparation allows the response to be developed from a clearer understanding of the facts rather than from an improvised explanation during a conversation with an IRS representative.
Do Not Make Statements or Provide Information Before Counsel Has Reviewed the Matter
A taxpayer may believe that being completely cooperative will resolve the matter quickly. However, the IRS may already have information that has prompted questions or concerns. You may not know what the agency knows, what it suspects is incorrect, or how your answers will be evaluated.
Inaccurate or false information can be used against you and may lead to substantial penalties or, in some cases, potential criminal exposure. Even an innocent explanation may create additional questions or expand the examination.
Ask Janathan Allen to review the request, evaluate the relevant information, and manage the response. This protects your ability to cooperate with the IRS without unnecessarily exposing yourself to additional risk.
Understand Deadlines Before Agreeing to Extend the Assessment Period
The IRS may ask you to extend the time available to assess additional tax. That request should not be treated as a routine document to sign. An extension may give the agency additional time to continue its examination, but it may also provide time to resolve disputed issues, submit information, or pursue an administrative appeal.
Your attorney can evaluate whether an extension is in your best interests, whether a limited extension should be negotiated, or whether the IRS should be required to act within the existing period. The appropriate decision depends upon the circumstances of your case.
Do not agree to extend the assessment period without understanding the consequences and obtaining experienced legal advice.
Develop the Audit Record With a Potential Appeal in Mind
The information, documents, explanations, and positions developed during an IRS examination may become important if you later disagree with the agency's findings. You should not assume that an appeal is an opportunity to start over and present your case for the first time.
Our tax attorney, Janathan Allen, can help organize supporting documentation, evaluate proposed adjustments, and develop a clear explanation of the issues in dispute. Significant new information introduced during an appeal may need to be returned to the examination function for further consideration, creating additional delay.
Preparing the record carefully during the examination usually helps to positively resolve the matter sooner and provide a stronger foundation if an appeal becomes necessary.
We invite you to a complimentary and substantive conversation regarding your situation, objectives, and concerns. You can reach out through the chat module on this page, our contact form, or by calling 866-631-3470.
More Aggressive Than The Tax Agencies?
You Need Experienced Tax Counsel When the Stakes Are Significant
Janathan L. Allen has decades of experience representing businesses, business owners, investors, and individuals in IRS and California tax audits, payroll tax matters, worker misclassification inquiries, reporting issues, collection matters, and complex California tax controversies.
Her experience spans both proactive planning opportunities and high-consequence disputes involving the Internal Revenue Service, the California Franchise Tax Board, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and the Employment Development Department.
Allen Barron also assists clients who are planning ahead, seeking to come into compliance, or addressing international tax concerns before they become larger disputes. Tax planning, voluntary compliance, offshore reporting, expatriate tax issues, international investments, and cross-border business activities often benefit from early, coordinated guidance. Taking the right steps now may help reduce exposure, preserve options, and prevent avoidable tax, legal, accounting, and financial consequences.
The initial consultation is a complimentary, substantive, confidential discussion designed to help you better understand your current position, the issues that may require immediate attention, and the strategies that may help protect your financial and business interests moving forward.
You are invited to engage the chat module on this page, contact Allen Barron, or call (866) 631-3470 to schedule a free, substantive consultation.
Learn more about Janathan L. Allen, APC and Allen Barron’s integrated tax, legal, accounting and business consulting services and how an integrated approach may help identify risk, protect assets, reduce unnecessary exposure, and support your long-term business and financial objectives.