The end of an audit

The end of a federal tax audit can be a time of many important decisions.

The first big decision comes before the Internal Revenue Service. Tax officials will decide, based on the findings of the audit, whether or not changes should be made to the taxpayer’s tax return.

If the IRS decides no changes should be made, the person’s tax return will remain as is.

If the IRS decides changes should be made, it will propose changes. If this happens, the taxpayer has a big decision to make: whether to agree to or contest the proposed changes. What a taxpayer decides in this regard can have major impacts on their legal situation.

Whatever a taxpayer who had an audit that resulted in proposed tax return changes decides regarding whether or not to agree to the changes, it will generally not be the end of the impactful decisions they will have to make in relation to the matter.

If they decide to agree to the proposed changes, they will generally have decisions to make regarding how to deal with tax debt resulting from the changes. If they choose to contest the changes, they will generally have to decide what sorts of approaches they want to take during the contesting process.

All of these taxpayer decisions can have significant implications on the taxpayer’s future. So, having the advice and help of an attorney knowledgeable in tax law and skilled at dealing with the IRS can not only be very important during an audit, but also at the end of an audit and during any resulting aftermath.

Source: Internal Revenue Service, “IRS Audits,” Accessed March 24, 2016