It’s not fun to think about, but there’s no way to be completely immune from the possibility of an IRS audit. But if thinking about it isn’t pleasant, going through an audit can be even worse. If you do get audited, you’ll have a better chance of an easy audit experience if you start planning for it now. Since we’re in tax season, it’s wise to prepare for a potential audit while your tax information for the previous year is at hand. Here’s how to prepare for an IRS audit:

Use Your Tax Return as a Checklist

Use your current tax return to guide you in gathering all the components of your tax return and putting them together in one file. That way, if the state or federal tax authorities decide to review your return, you’ll have the right documents readily available.

Categorize Your Records

It’s a good idea to organize your documents by year, as well as income and expense type. Including a summary of transactions for each year as a quick guide for yourself and the auditors will also be helpful.

Prepare for Questions

You can anticipate by looking over anything that could potentially trigger an audit. Anything that looks out of the ordinary like foreign bank accounts, large tax losses, or significant business tax deductions are all flags for auditors. It’s best to have explanations for those items in advance. It’s an auditor’s job to ask tough questions, so be prepared!

Audits aren’t known for being enjoyable, but there are ways you can make them stress free by being proactive. If you do get audited, Cray Kaiser is here to help you through the entire process. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have questions on how to prepare for an IRS audit or how to avoid an audit.