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Call (866) 681-2140
Your options depend on the date on the audit letter. We take over the correspondence, deal with the examiner directly, and tell you what the IRS is proposing before you agree to anything.
Call (866) 681-2140 with the notice in hand.
A CPA or Enrolled Agent signs on and deals with the examiner directly
Federal and state examinations, including a letter audit the IRS later widens
A fixed fee diagnostic first, so we quote a resolution only after we know the problem
IRS audit representation means a credentialed professional stands in your place for the examination. That work has four parts:
The authorization. We file Form 2848 so the IRS deals with us. Only attorneys, CPAs and Enrolled Agents hold unlimited representation rights.
The record. We pull transcripts to see what the IRS holds.
The response. We assemble the documents, write the position, and handle the correspondence to the deadline on the notice.
The escalation. Appeals where the examiner will not move, and a handoff to a tax attorney where the matter becomes criminal.
We are accountants and Enrolled Agents, so a lawyer handles a Tax Court petition or anything with criminal exposure. We say so as soon as we see it.
There is no agreed definition of a successful audit and no independent body that checks a firm’s claim, so we do not publish a success rate.
The IRS publishes examination coverage and the additional tax it recommends in Table 3.1 of its Data Book, so you can read the base rates yourself. Your own outcome depends on three things:
We tell you what the transcripts show, what we think the exposure is, and where we think you will lose. If the IRS is right, the cheapest advice is to say so.
With a diagnostic. We charge a fixed fee to find out what is wrong before we quote the fix.
The diagnostic is $1,440 and covers three hours across the IRS and one state agency. It finds the problem. It does not fix it, and the fix is quoted separately once we know what we are fixing.
What the fixed diagnostic fee covers
Steps 1 to 3 make up the diagnostic.
The IRS names the type in the letter.
The IRS conducts it by mail, on one or a few line items. Reply with your whole file and you hand the examiner new questions.
The IRS asks you to bring records to an IRS office. With a Form 2848 on file, we attend in your place.
A revenue agent comes to the business, with a broader scope and more years open.
A CP2000 is an automated notice, not an examination. The IRS proposes changes where your return does not match a third party form, and we answer it differently. Handled on our IRS and state letter service.
The 30 day appeal window is the first date. The second is the statutory notice of deficiency: you have 90 days from its date to petition the Tax Court, 150 if you are outside the United States.
Both are fixed. After the 30 days you lose the appeals route and keep only Tax Court. After the 90 days, the IRS assesses the tax, and you can no longer dispute it before paying.
If the audit closed without your documents, we can ask the IRS for audit reconsideration. The IRS allows it where you did not appear, did not receive the notices, or have records it has not seen.
It refuses it where a court has decided the liability or you signed a closing or Appeals agreement. Once you have paid in full, we file a refund claim instead.
States that tax income generally require you to report federal audit changes to the state revenue department, within a window each state sets. The IRS does not tell the state for you.
In New York, if you do not report the change, the state can assess the tax at any time.
We handle the state side alongside the IRS.
IRS audit representation fees come as two numbers doing different jobs.
Diagnostic, $1,440. Three hours, fixed. Form 2848 filed with the IRS and one state agency, transcripts pulled, findings presented.
Representation, $1,500 to $5,000 or more. Priced after the diagnostic against the years open, the examination type, whether a state agency is involved, and how much of the record has to be rebuilt.
Nothing is billed before it is quoted. If the diagnostic shows the IRS is substantially right, we will tell you that and the resolution quote will be small or unnecessary.
If you have a tax question, whatever the least appealing answer would be, that’s probably the right answer.
I was in a pickle with IRS telling me that I owe them outrageous amount of money. My accountant made a mistake with my RSUs, that is why I was in trouble. She did not know how to handle it even when presented with IRS letter.
Our team includes CPAs and Enrolled Agents who work on individual returns, business taxes and tax planning. Tell us what you need help with when you get in touch.
Send the letter over and we will tell you what it is, what the deadline on it is, and what IRS audit representation would cost.
General information, not advice for your circumstances. Speak to a CPA before responding to any notice, because the answer in an examination depends on your documents and your deadlines.
