Thursday, March 31, 2016

Does the IRS have you in their crosshairs? How can you appeal this if they do?

It is not a very pleasant moment when you are issued with a notification courtesy of the Internal Revenue System saying that you are in line to be audited by them. For the most part, it can be downright intimidating. Many businesses go out of business after the IRS is done with them which puts more people in the welfare and food stamp line which some unimpressive bureaucrat does not understand, especially when they are put through a field audit.

However, as an American citizen, you have some rights and in some cases you can appeal an IRS tax audit successfully.

Once the IRS conducts a tax audit, they will then send you a tax bill if they happen to find that you have not been fully prompt with your tax payments, which are almost always the case after a tax audit. This bill can be very hard to digest indeed and in some cases can run into the millions if your revenue has been that high. The person that is billed can, however, legally challenge the bill by appealing it.


Appealing an IRS tax bill is definitely not a walk in the park and requires a poignant and serious comprehension of the tax laws. In the movie Aliens which came out in 1986 Ellen Ripley and a team of marines had to visit LV-426 which is basically a moon that was being terraformed. The headquarters lost contact with the people on this planet. Aliens destroyed them. Saving these people (or trying to save them) and killing the aliens was not going to be a walk in the park either and it was not. You may think being audited is tough to deal with but going onto an alien infested planet is nothing to smile about either – it is far worse.

If aliens knew how to use the Internet that would another thing to worry about. Good thing they are not that smart. But you need to be smart when it comes to the IRS. Do not bait them and do not call them names in your written or verbal communications with them. Gather your materials, hire a tax lawyer, and show your records to this legal professional. You can find a tax lawyer right here: Tax.USAttorneys. Legal help is right around the virtual corner. 

Therefore, anyone wishing to do so will most certainly require the professional services of a dedicated tax lawyer who has successfully appealed an IRS tax bill in the past and knows exactly what it takes to achieve this.

In fact, many people are able to appeal their tax audit bills successfully. They may not have the bill voided entirely, but they are at least able to minimize the amount owed in terms of taxes, interest, and penalties to a substantial extent. So much so that IRS officers even have a term for the appeals process, they call it the “gift shop”.

Steps involved in appealing your IRS tax audit

The first step in initiating your tax audit bill would be to write what is known as a protest letter. Keep in mind that this letter needs to be delivered within 30 days from when the IRS raises a tax bill after completing the tax audit. The protest letter needs to be in a specific format and should touch on some critical points, it is best to utilize a tax attorney in order to make sure your protest letter is exactly the way it needs to be.

The points to cover in a protest letter are things such as identifying personal details (name, age, phone number), a statement where you clearly express your intention to appeal or challenge the findings of the audit and consequently the tax bill raised based on those findings, a copy of the letter sent to you by the IRS where they state the findings of the audit, the tax years involved, facts which bear testimony to your appeal, and the concerned tax law relevant to the issue.

Get a tax lawyer today!

As already mentioned, tax laws are very vast and the IRS is too powerful for you to take on single handedly. But if you have facts and logic on your side, you should be OK. This is not Cuba which has no concern for human rights and dignity. If you want to stand a fighting chance against the IRS in a tax audit then you certainly need the help of a tax lawyer. There is not any ambiguity about that. 

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