Tax Audit

Many people are afraid of a tax audit. When your tax return is selected for a tax audit, it does not mean you have done anything wrong or that you owe more taxes. A tax audit usually scares people into thinking they owe more taxed or penalties to the IRS. A tax audit is a term the IRS uses for general questioning of a tax return. When you are called by the IRS for a tax audit, you should not be afraid. A tax audit can be painfree and easy to deal with. The IRS treats people who come in for tax audits with respect, not criminals.

When people talk about a tax audit, they usually mean IRS personal income tax audit but there are other types of tax audits such as sale tax audit. For the purpose of this IRS Audit website, we will refer to personal income tax audit as a tax audit and sale tax audit as sale tax audit.

What is a tax audit?

A tax audit is the process which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assess whether your tax return is correct or not. When your tax return is selected for a tax audit, it does not mean your tax return contains incorrect data or that you owe more taxes to the IRS or that you have done something wrong. The IRS simply wants to verify some information on your tax returns.

What does the IRS usually audit in a tax audit?

For your personal income tax audit, there are two potential areas on your income tax return the IRS could question. The first is your income and the second is the deductions you claim such as dependents or itemized business deductions. Out of the two, the IRS is more likely to concentrate on the tax audit of your income rather than tax deductions.

Will the IRS be nice during the tax audit?

There are many views whether the IRS is reasonable during a tax audit. Some people think the IRS is there to collect money and more money using any means possible. However, others feel that the IRS is fair and tax audits are pain free. Some IRS officers have taken a view that it's easier to collect taxes when they are nice. So, whether your IRS tax audit officer will be nice or not depends on the person and where the audit is.