It’s true that the IRS auditors will often overreach and issue an audit report that seeks 3 or 4 times as much tax as you might have thought possible.  In fact, this is common: and the audit victims find themselves in trouble with the IRS and looking for fast, professional help.  If this describes your situation, you have come to the right place.  We appeal audits and we most often win.  By “win” we mean that taxes most often get reduced when we appeal a case.  Many of our clients say to us at the end of the appeal, “You saved me much more than you cost me.”  And that, of course, is our goal.

Steps in an appeal. At the close of any audit the revenue agent issues what is known as an examination report on Form 4549.  This report includes his factual findings, his application of the law to the facts, and his calculation of additional tax plus interest and penalty.  When you receive the Form 4549 you should call us immediately because there is a thirty day appeal clock ticking.  You have 30 days to appeal your audit on Form 12203 or you forever lose that right.

After we have signed you up and filed the Notice of Appeal, we then attend the Appeals Conference–without you needing to be present.  This conference is an informal meeting between us and the Appeals Officer and the revenue agent.  At this conference we are allowed to present evidence, argument, legal authority or other items in support of your position.  At the appeals conference we will guide the appeals officer through the revenue agent’s report (RAR) and point out exactly and precisely why the agent has made errors in calculating your tax.  We will present facts by using documents and using affidavits from various people and institutions.  We will argue the law from the Internal Revenue Code (a good reason to use a lawyer and not some “company”) to appeal your case and we will be prepared to present an offer of settlement.  You and our attorney will have discussed the amount of this offer and the reasons for it beforehand.  No surprises now.

The Difficult Agent. 99 out of 100 auditors are cool and efficient and not emotionally invested in your case.  Occasionally however you run across one who is either having a bad day or who hasn’t gotten the memo about treating taxpayers with utmost respect.  After all, it is the taxpayer who is paying for that auditor to even have a job, much less the great federal benefits that go with a federal job.

You’ll immediately recognize the difficult agent.  They make unreasonable demands for documents.  They insist on invading the privacy of your home or insist on coming to your business and having an office to themselves for days on end.  These agents sometimes actually believe they are able to frighten tax lawyers and make their lives miserable.  They sometimes threaten to increase penalties if you “fail to fully cooperate.”  He might even say you can go to jail, attempting to frighten you into surrender of your money.  We deal with such people (rare as they are) by simply telling them the audit is over, demanding an immediate examination report, and filing an appeal.  In other words, we wave goodbye to the auditor and watch them recede in our rear-view mirror.

Appeal to Tax Court. We very often use Tax Court as a second chance at appeal.  We do this because, for a filing fee of only $60 we can file your case in Tax Court (we are lawyers…) and the case once filed is immediately sent again to appeals, this time an appeals officer not connected with the IRS agent in any way, shape or form.  Here’s the real difference:  The IRS is an agency of the government and the Tax Court is a United States court, which means it is nothing like an agency, the IRS.  The IRS administers the tax law; the Tax Court decides what the tax law means.  Two vastly different roles and two vastly different approaches for us as practitioners before both.  And best of all, Tax Court settlements are under the ultimate control of the IRS’ Office of District Counsel, the government’s lawyers.  It is with these knowledgeable and helpful people that we often have the most luck in settling a case just before trial.

Do these descriptions sound like something you need to try?  If so, please call us without delay.  Remember, a time clock is ticking if you have received your tax audit examination report.  It is time to file your tax audit appeal and you need the exact service we offer.