When we got called in by the IRS for our audit, Hubby had meetings that day and couldn't get off work, so I went alone. Because we had filed our own taxes, there was no accountant or H&R Block rep to come along with me. I was 8 months pregnant with twins at the time.
The IRS sends you a letter telling you what they are questioning and what evidence to bring with you about 2 months or so before the audit appoint they have already set up. It usually takes 2-3 years before you are audited for a particular tax year. I showed up with one little folder of stuff because the letter was requesting info on 3 or 4 issues. There were other people there with boxes and boxes of stuff. I felt very under prepared.
The tax year the IRS was questioning, we had our son, we'd lived in 3 different states that year, we'd had rental income on our home, then moved back into our home because the buyers backed out on the deal, sold the home as a primary residence, and we moved to another state for a new job, so there were relocation expenses as well.
Every year you file taxes, you build a profile. You get points here and there for each and every line you fill in. After several years of filing, you establish an average points value of 1000-1200, for example. When you have an odd year, and your points value varies too much, high or low, your tax return gets kicked out for review by an auditer. We'd had too many phenomenal events occur in one year for the comfort level of the IRS.
The meeting with the auditer went real easy. She pretty much addressed only the issues that had been mentioned in the letter. I showed her appropriate documentation for those things. She jotted notes, made copies of documentation I'd brought with me, and she was fairly satisfied I was telling the truth. She did ask a few extra questions, but nothing I needed proof for. Just wanted explanations why different events had occurred the way they did.
She was a very nice person, the auditer was. The meeting only lasted about 45 minutes. We did chat a bit about kids at the end. Very friendly type conversation. I was never made to feel uncomfortable at all in any way. She told me at the end, in IRS legaleeze, that we had passed. We would get a letter in about 4-6 weeks saying the review had been performed and no objections were noted. Even tho it wouldn't out right say we were OK, that's what it would mean.
The IRS sends you a letter telling you what they are questioning and what evidence to bring with you about 2 months or so before the audit appoint they have already set up. It usually takes 2-3 years before you are audited for a particular tax year. I showed up with one little folder of stuff because the letter was requesting info on 3 or 4 issues. There were other people there with boxes and boxes of stuff. I felt very under prepared.
The tax year the IRS was questioning, we had our son, we'd lived in 3 different states that year, we'd had rental income on our home, then moved back into our home because the buyers backed out on the deal, sold the home as a primary residence, and we moved to another state for a new job, so there were relocation expenses as well.
Every year you file taxes, you build a profile. You get points here and there for each and every line you fill in. After several years of filing, you establish an average points value of 1000-1200, for example. When you have an odd year, and your points value varies too much, high or low, your tax return gets kicked out for review by an auditer. We'd had too many phenomenal events occur in one year for the comfort level of the IRS.
The meeting with the auditer went real easy. She pretty much addressed only the issues that had been mentioned in the letter. I showed her appropriate documentation for those things. She jotted notes, made copies of documentation I'd brought with me, and she was fairly satisfied I was telling the truth. She did ask a few extra questions, but nothing I needed proof for. Just wanted explanations why different events had occurred the way they did.
She was a very nice person, the auditer was. The meeting only lasted about 45 minutes. We did chat a bit about kids at the end. Very friendly type conversation. I was never made to feel uncomfortable at all in any way. She told me at the end, in IRS legaleeze, that we had passed. We would get a letter in about 4-6 weeks saying the review had been performed and no objections were noted. Even tho it wouldn't out right say we were OK, that's what it would mean.
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