10/24/2026
A client of mine was selected for a full IRS audit of their personal tax return.
There was information that had not been provided to us when we originally prepared the return, and the IRS was now requesting documentation for several items.
One of the things they wanted was documentation for the expenses associated with a rental property.
When I met with the auditor in Altoona, I didn't just hand him a pile of receipts.
I prepared an Excel spreadsheet listing and totaling each expense, and I attached the supporting documentation in the exact same order as the spreadsheet.
The IRS also requested two brokerage statements and documentation for the insurance on the rental property. I had all of that organized and ready for the auditor as well.
After my first meeting with the auditor, I sat down with my client.
I showed him what information had been missing from the original return and explained exactly what the auditor was looking at.
Then I gave him two numbers:
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ-๐๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ข๐จโ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐จ๐ฐ๐.
๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ-๐๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ข๐จโ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ ๐ข๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ.
I also explained the potential interest and penalties.
When the audit was complete, I went back to Altoona and met with the auditor again.
There were some adjustments he agreed with and others he did not. But because we had the documentation to support the positions we had taken, I was able to successfully defend several of the items.
When everything was finished, ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง $๐,๐๐๐.
Just before our meeting ended, the auditor complimented me on my documentation and on how I presented the items where I believed additional tax should not be assessed.
Then he said something I've never forgotten:
โ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ญ๐๐ฑ ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐ฌ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก.โ
That meant a lot to me.
Not because I want my clients to be audited.
๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ญ๐๐, ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆโ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐๐, ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐.
โ ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ
๐ธ๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐
Always on your side