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============================================================ How To Audit-Proof Your Tax Return Forever! (My Recent Close Encounter Of The IRS-Kind)
-- by Wayne M. Davies
Copyright 2003 Wayne M. Davies Inc. ============================================================
Congress recently passed legislation that is supposed to result in a more "sensitive" Internal Revenue Service. You know, not such a lean, mean, tax-collecting machine. I DON'T THINK SO! Here's why.
A few months ago, one of my clients (let's call him Mr. Jones) got one of those IRS "love letters" requesting more information about his return, and
IRS wanted to meet with Mr. Jones in person to discuss
situation (not a good sign!) Mr. Jones (a local small business owner) was required to show up at
local IRS office with all his records. The IRS was questioning
legitimacy of several business deductions -- and so
IRS was doing what it is allowed by law to do -- demand that
taxpayer prove that those deductions were valid.
[By
way, most IRS audits are done these days by mail. Humans are rarely involved in these so-called "correspondence audits."
Those big IRS computers can check and cross-check all kinds of information that should be reported on your tax return. And if something doesn't show up on
return that is easily tracked by
IRS computers, then
computer just spits out a not-so-friendly "discrepancy notice", which you can respond to via mail.]
Turns out that Mr. Jones lost
audit and ended up owing
IRS a significant amount of money --
additional tax, plus penalty and interest for late payment of that tax. Why did Mr. Jones' lose
audit? Mr. Jones made two "classic" taxpayer mistakes:
MISTAKE #1: "NO RECEIPT, NO DEDUCTION"
Mr. Jones lost several deductions simply because he didn't have
proper documentation to prove
deductions.
What do I mean by "documentation"?
Well, if
IRS requires you to substantiate a deduction on your tax return, you must be able to provide written proof that
deduction really happened. The easiest way to prove a deduction is to hang on to:
a) The receipt or invoice, and
b) Proof of payment, which can be a canceled check, cash receipt, or credit card statement.
Mr. Jones reported numerous deductions for which he simply didn't have
documentation. No receipts, no canceled checks, no nothing. Turns out that Mr. Jones was one of those "cash guys". Do you know what I mean by a "cash guy"? Maybe you know what kind of guy I'm talking about -- He never wrote a check in his life, just carried a wad of cash around in his pocket. He paid for everything with cash, and never kept any of his receipts.