Any DUers Receive Notice Of An IRS Audit In The Last Two Months?

[Me.]

I was in a forum here on DU where someone mentioned they had just received notice of an audit. I also received one in December. Someone else wondered how many of us may have gotten them. As a curiosity I am asking the question.

[amitten]

1. No. But if I did, I'd be squeaky clean. Guess it's a pain, though.

Sorry to hear that.

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. I posted about this yesterday.

Not this month. Audited earlier in the year. First time ever.

PM me. If I can find the link I'll send you the thread.

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. My thread is "not available".

Also, it appears to have been removed from GD forum.

I have no idea why.

[Me.]

7. Thanks Anyway

They've been working on GD this weekend and other threads have also gone missing as a result. You can pm Elad if you wish.

[peekaloo]

8. .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=9296


if you search by name or topic you can find threads.

GD is under construction this weekend.

:-)

[Smarmie Doofus]

11. That's it. Thanks much. n/t

[norml]

3. Yes, and I've got to take care of it this week.

If I don't do a successful challenge I'll owe a ridiculous amount of money (which I don't owe) so I'll probably pay an accountant $120 to sort out the paperwork for me and get it in on time.

I've never had anything like this happen before, so I'd have to say it's been a concern.

[ugarte]

4. They say don't walk in by yourself, but I did

Really no big deal. The IRS people I've met have all been very professional, even nice.

[Smarmie Doofus]

9. This may be true. However...

there is a long and documented history of IRS being used to settle political scores. See the Watergate transcripts, for example.

[ugarte]

12. I don't believe any of that translates down to street-level IRS employees

and such mundane tasks as audits. The vast majority of IRS people are incorruptible and any attempt at political pressure would not be appreciated, much less kept secret.

[johnfunk]

6. Earlier this year. So I confronted them...

... costing them at least a few dozen man-hours -- and an additional $1427 in refund when I did a little bit of recalculation, submitted an amended return, and had my attorney (sister-in-law) review my work (she found a small deduction I had overlooked), send out letters to the IRS and the two (yes, two) people I had dealt with in the pre-audit telling them that any and all further issues re. my return would be handled by her -- and might well involve a civil challenge (i.e. lawsuit, discovery and so on).

The IRS informed my attorney in November that the matter was closed to their satisfaction.

Total expenses: $58.82, constituting legal (yes, she was retained formally) and mailing fees. Total gain after expenses: $1368.18. Plus, I'm deducting my own top hourly consulting rate ($250/hr) for time I had to take off to compile my paperwork and recalculate my taxes (that's a hefty and justified itemized deduction).

Moral of the story: make it expensive for the IRS early on.

[mcctatas]

10. I got one in July and it has been a trip to the bowels of hell trying to

provide all the documentation they want. First of all, it's not like we have any assetts to hide (hubby is a self-employed painter and I am a student)...Secondly..."randomly selected" my lily white ass!!!!:grr:

[politicat]

13. Self-employed was the flag.

sorry. Being self-employed is a really good way to get hit. One of the best things you can do is set up either an LLC or or an S corporation for him and let him be paid by the corporation.

The self-employed are likely to get hit because of the self-employment taxes and the quarterly estimated taxes.

I grew up in an accountant's household (my mother) and am a qualified tax professional myself.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. You are right

My husband was self employed for several years and I think we were audited every year. Since he has a different job now, no audits (knock on wood).

[skids]

14. No notice, but I have a hunch I'm routinely audited.

...because once in a while I get an additional (very small) refund check back later because apparently I missed some minor deduction somewhere. So they can continue to audit away. It's like getting free tax advice, without the hassle. I guess that only applies to people like me that are scrupulously honest about it, though, and don't have any complex shelters.

[SmokingJacket]

17. That's not what I think the OP means, here.

If we make a mistake in our taxes, we're notified -- because the IRS does check returns -- but being Audited means you have to *prove* you paid the correct taxes for the last five or ten years or something.

I had a friend who was audited immediately after making a political speech. It wrecked her life for months as she tried to come up with evidence that she had paid taxes on the tips she earned as a waitress many years before. It's a nightmare, basically.

I'm incredibly honest, too, but the idea that I'd have to track down pay stubs from jobs I had five million years ago makes me shake in my boots.

[haele]

15. It may be a normal situation...

We've had tax issues (outstanding student loan, change of filing status from two singles to a married joint, addition of dependant) that caused differences in the filings for three years running. The IRS "reviewed" (rather than audited) our return from three years ago when we first got married and reported the review to the State of California, my home state. The review actually netted us a little over $300 owed to us - which of course, they haven't refunded as of yet. Perhaps they will a bit later.

One problem with the "review". My spouse's income for that year was in a different state; he became disabled (could no longer work) and moved out here to join me after we got married. The only income that year that was made in California was mine, not his; and he filed his income taxes that year in his home state.
Now we're fighting with the state - which wanted us to just give them a check for additional taxes and penalties on the supposed difference that his income that year. They gave us 15 days from the notice to pay, challenge - then they'd send it directly to a private collections firm contracted by the state.

I don't think that audits or reviews are unusual; any change in an established pattern of filing status or amounts might trigger a review. And of course, the IRS finds that it's easier going after poorer people; they usually don't owe enough - or make enough that they'd arm themselves with lawyers and accountants and dispute an IRS "finding".

What you really have to watch out for is when they claim they've sent you something and you don't receive it...

Haele

[Me.]

16. I Read They Were Amping Up Audits On People Who Earned

over a hundred grand. I'm wondering why they decided to waste their time with people like me. Refilling the coffers after B888 looting?