Audit Assistance

A letter saying your return has been selected for examination is not an accusation and it is not a bill. It is a request for proof. We provide IRS audit help from our Coral Springs, FL office, in English or Spanish: we read the notice, work out exactly what is being questioned, assemble the records that answer it, and deal with the examiner so you do not have to.

This page is about the audit itself — how it runs, what gets asked for, and by when. If what you need is someone with authority to stand in your place, that is representation before the IRS, and it is a separate service.

How the IRS actually contacts you

By mail. "Should your account be selected for audit, we will notify you by mail. We won't initiate an audit by telephone" (IRS, IRS audits). A phone call that opens with an audit and a demand for payment is not the IRS. Bring us the letter before you respond to anyone.

The three kinds of audit

The IRS runs examinations "either by mail or through an in-person interview," and the interview "may be at an IRS office (office audit) or at the taxpayer's home, place of business, or accountant's/representative's office (field audit)" (IRS, IRS audits). In practice:

• Audit by mail (the correspondence audit). Handled by mail rather than by interview: "our letter will request additional information about certain items shown on the tax return such as income, expenses, and itemized deductions," and you reply with copies. It does not have to stay on paper — "If you have too many books or records to mail, you can request a face-to-face audit" (IRS, IRS audits).
• Office audit. You are given an appointment at an IRS office and a list of what to bring.
• Field audit. An examiner comes to the business, the home, or the representative's office. Broader in scope — and the one where it matters most whose office the meeting happens in. It can be ours.

What the IRS asks you for

You never have to guess: "The IRS will provide you with a written request for the specific documents we want to see" (IRS, IRS audits). What they want is whatever supports "the income, credits or deductions you claimed on your return" — receipts presented "by date with notes on what they were for," bills showing who was paid and when, canceled checks grouped with the bills they paid, mileage logs showing "the business purpose and mileage" (IRS, Audits records request). And the instruction people get wrong: "Never mail original records. Send us copies."

The date on the letter is the part that hurts

Audit deadlines are not soft. Publication 3498-A is blunt about missing one: "If you do not reply by the due date, the IRS will disallow the items identified. This may delay or reduce any refund... You could miss your timeframe to resolve your dispute" (Publication 3498-A, Rev. 5-2021). More time is normally available if you ask before the date rather than after — for mail audits, "We can ordinarily grant you a one-time automatic 30-day extension" (IRS, IRS audits).

If nothing is resolved, the IRS issues a Statutory Notice of Deficiency by certified mail and the clock stops being negotiable: "You have 90 days from the date on the notice to petition the U.S. Tax Court," and "we cannot extend the time you have to petition the U.S. Tax Court beyond the original 90 days" (Publication 3498-A, Rev. 5-2021). Call us well before that letter, not after it.

How far back an audit can reach

"Generally, the IRS can include returns filed within the last three years in an audit," and "We usually don't go back more than the last six years" (IRS, IRS audits). Your records should cover that reach: keep them "3 years" as the rule, and "6 years if you do not report income that you should report, and it is more than 25% of the gross income shown on your return" (IRS, How long should I keep records?). Florida sets its own for state tax: "You must keep your records for three years for auditing purposes" (Florida Department of Revenue, What to Expect from a Florida Tax Audit).

Your defense was built before the letter arrived

An audit tests documents, not intentions. The IRS calls it the burden of proof — "the responsibility to prove entries, deductions, and statements made on your tax returns" — and adds that you "generally must have documentary evidence, such as receipts, canceled checks, or bills, to support your expenses." A company whose monthly bookkeeping is current answers a records request in days. One reconstructing three years from a shoebox spends weeks and still has gaps. It is the same reason we build corporate tax returns from reconciled books instead of from summaries.

How an audit ends

Three ways, in the IRS's own terms. No change: "an audit in which you have substantiated all of the items being reviewed and results in no changes." Agreed: the IRS proposes changes and you accept them. Disagreed: changes are proposed and you contest them, through a conference with a manager or an appeal. Nobody can tell you in advance which one you will get, and you should be wary of anyone who does. What is worth knowing is who may speak for you at that stage: "Only attorneys, certified public accountants, or enrolled agents are allowed to represent a taxpayer at the Appeals conference" (Publication 3498-A, Rev. 5-2021). Our firm is Enrolled Agents and CPAs.

IRS audit help in Coral Springs, FL

Do not answer the notice alone, and do not let it sit on the counter. Bring it in or email it, and we will tell you what is really being asked, what we need from you, and what the date on it means. We are at 1700 N University Dr STE 210, Coral Springs, we work in English and Spanish, and the first consultation is free.