No phrase in the English language can cause more fear and more trepidation than, “You’re getting an audit.” It is a nightmare scenario that can cause sleepless nights and a huge hit to your bank account. What makes matters worse is that we often don’t know what the most widespread red flag triggers are until the filing year is over, since the rules and regulations adjust so often. Here are some “can’t miss” tips to stop IRS audit action before it has a chance to claim you as its next victim.
Get skilled lend a hand
Unless your second job is as a qualified accountant and tax preparation expert, get facilitate to do your taxes. The rule book for your taxes grows each and every year. It takes a true qualified to value where you can get away with exaggerating and where you should to regulations. This isn’t a matter of if you can file your taxes by yourself, you can. The question is if you don’t want to be audited, get some qualified backing. It could turn out to be the unsurpassed $40 you have ever spent.
Be Reasonable With Your Fibs
If you want to stop IRS audit action before it starts, you have to to be reasonable with the things you fib about. Let’s just admit it, many people fib on their taxes. still, some folks think that no one will notice if they write off children they don’t have or make other fantastic claims on their taxes that just aren’t true. We all want the biggest refund we can possibly get, but the reality is that some of us have to pay and some don’t. The more you exaggerate the exactness, the better the chances that you will get a call from the IRS.
Filing Separately Even if Married
One long-time audit flag that pops up almost every time is when a person who is married files a separate revisit. This isn’t illegal or even untrue, but it does raise some suspicions at IRS headquarters. If you combine this red flag with other general red flags, you can almost promise that you will get audited. The main reason why a married person would file separately is to hide income or other assets from the IRS, although there are also many reasonable and logical reasons why this would be done, as well. File this way at your own risk.
Too Charitable
One firm red flag that comes up again and again occurs when a person donates a large sum of money each year to charity that is not in line with what their declared income is. We all know that charitable donations are an excellent tax write-off, but if you are donating thousands of dollars, while only bringing home a few thousand dollars yourself, you will almost certainly get audited. While this list is far from being all-inclusive, if you pass up these general traps, you can stop IRS audit action before it has a chance to devastate your life.
Darrin T. Mish is a veteran, nationally recognized tax attorney who has focused on providing IRS help to taxpayers for over a decade. He regularly travels the country training other attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents on how to handle their toughest cases with the IRS. He is highly ranked among the top attorneys in the country, with an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and a perfect 10 on Avvo.com. Martindale-Hubbell has also honored him with a listing in their Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. He is a member of the American Society of IRS Problem Solvers and the Tax Freedom Institute. With clients on every continent but Antarctica, he has what it takes to solve your IRS problems no matter where you live in the world. If you would like more information about his practice and how he can help you, please call his office at (813) 229-7100 or toll free at 1-888-GET-MISH.