Audits and appeals
An audit is a set of questions. Answer them in order.
Most audits begin by mail: a letter asking for the receipts, statements or logs behind a few lines of a return. Others are an appointment at an IRS office, or an examiner at your kitchen table or your shop.
Eugenia takes over the correspondence from the first letter. She gathers what supports the return, says plainly where it falls short, and answers the examiner in writing, so nothing turns on a conversation you had alone.
What she handles
Correspondence, office and field audits
Ohio Department of Taxation audits
Business and self-employment returns
How it goes
From the first letter to the last word
- 01
The letter
You bring it, with the return it asks about. She reads both and tells you what the examiner is likely to want.
- 02
The response
She assembles the records, writes the explanation and sends it under her name, before the deadline on the letter.
- 03
The 30-day letter
If the examiner proposes a change you don't accept, she can ask for a hearing with the IRS Independent Office of Appeals.
- 04
Tax Court
A notice of deficiency gives 90 days to petition the Tax Court. She files the petition and keeps negotiating while it is pending.
Before an audit meeting
Do I have to meet the examiner myself?
Usually not. With a signed power of attorney, Eugenia can attend in your place, and most of the work happens in writing anyway.
The audit covers a year I can't find records for. What now?
Bank statements, card statements and third-party records can often rebuild what a receipt would have shown. Tell her early, before the response is due.
Can an audit reach back further than one year?
It can, and the letter says which years are open. She will tell you what the rules allow for your situation and whether the examiner has asked for more than they may.
Bring the letter to the first meeting
An hour with Eugenia, at the office or by video, to read it together and decide what to send back.