IRS notices can be a cause of fear and added anxiety for taxpayers, but with an accountant on your side, the process doesn’t have to be so bad. Alloy Silverstein Accountant Valentina Efremova offers 5 tips for handling an IRS notice.
Most of us at least once had to deal with a notice or letter from the IRS. Nobody is excited about paying taxes. The mission of the IRS is to provide America’s taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all.
The first thing you could do wrong would be to do nothing. But taking the position that you will ignore any notice from IRS is not helpful. In fact, it is just the opposite. The IRS agents do their job, like everybody else does, and you can agree with their position on the issue or not. Although most of the time we may not agree, creating drama is not going to help.
When you get a notice, do not be scared. Do not panic. Read it and if you do not understand it, call the IRS. Acknowledge the notice. The notice is asking you to take action such as a call, payment, sending supporting documentation, etc.
Sometimes you do not have all the information that the IRS is asking you to provide and you may need more time to gather all the documents. This is not the end of the world. Call the IRS agent and ask for more time, but do not leave out any required information.
We are all human, we all make mistakes, and it can be hard to admit a mistake. The best approach is to say that you made a mistake and you will fix it. The IRS agent will appreciate it. Nobody is perfect and we always can call and ask what the best way to correct the error is.
The last advice is to always feel comfortable with what you are submitting. If you did your best to explain your situation or you think you found the right statement to submit and you do not feel comfortable with the answer from your tax professional advisor, then maybe you want to have a second opinion.
The IRS agents do not present an “aggressive” demeanor. They are just agents doing their job, and maybe it is a nice relief to them when someone comes in who has everything ready, knows what he is talking about, has answers on every question and seems to be trying to make their jobs easier and quicker.
Do not forget, the IRS does not make the law, they just enforce it.
Contact us or learn more about our IRS Problem Resolution Services.
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