Evan Vitale

Accounting Professional

Evan Vitale – What Happens If You Get Audited?

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By Evan Vitale

Being audited by the Internal Revenue Service has not only been the punchline of many jokes and personal jabs, but it’s also one of those life moments that strikes fear into the hearts of many.

However, should you ever receive notice of an audit, here are a few steps and tips you can take in order to make the process go a little smoother for you:

  • The best way to prepare is to have a tax adviser on your side. He or she will not only help you with your questions and concerns, but it’s also the best way to be represented before the IRS. They will know how to find the solutions for your tax audit problems and will be able to respond to any auditor suspicions.
  • If you are a small business owner, your professional accountant knows how to reduce your chances of being audited. Want to avoid being audited? Don’t have a careless tax return. Keep personal deductions and business deductions separate. Keep good records of all expenses and be exact. Never round up numbers.
  • Sometimes, small businesses are audited because they deal in cash and, thus, money is sometimes not properly reported to the IRS.

In addition, small business owners often claim personal deductions and business deductions. Small business owners should always keep excellent records just in case of a potential tax audit.

Also, sometimes a small business is informed that their deductions were not allowed as the IRS may claim that their “business” is really a “hobby.” If this should happen you may need quality audit representation to review your returns and your deductions.

Should you ever be audited by the IRS, they will verify bank records, deposits, income, expenses, deductions, payroll taxes, employee classifications and other financial records.

Evan Vitale – Protecting Your Identity During Tax Season

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By Evan Vitale

As if tax season isn’t stressful enough, it’s also prime time for identity theft.

“A thief who has your personal information can file a tax return before you do, collect a fraudulent refund and leave you waiting for many months to get your own refund and clear up this problem,” said Neil Chase, vice president of education at LifeLock.

Identity thieves use stolen Social Security numbers and other personal information in order to file false tax returns. Some of their methods include:

  • Callers impersonating IRS agents calling victims and telling them they owed taxes and needed to pay by a wire transfer or by a prepaid card.
  • Sending e-mails asking for personal information, social security numbers or birth dates.
  • Untrusting employees at your doctor or dentist office asking for personal information.

If anyone asks for any personal information always ask them why they need it.

As we are now into full tax season, the Internal Revenue Service is working diligently with state tax authorities and the tax industry to address tax-related identity theft and refund theft. Stronger protections have already gone into place for this upcoming tax filing season. One of these changes will be new security requirements when you’re preparing your taxes online, especially when you sign in to your tax software account. Other changes will be invisible to taxpayers, but are in place to help federal, state and local tax offices.

Even with protections in place, the IRS doesn’t see processing time slowing down and plans on processing nine out of 10 federal refunds within 21 days.

To help protect yourself even further from identity theft, the IRS suggests the following tips:

  • File as early as you possibly can. The IRS will start taking tax returns on January 31, 2016.
  • Do not throw away financial statements, tax returns and other personal information in the trash. Instead, make sure these documents are properly shredded.