I received a new case in July. It was your typical Letter 566 exam questioning the member’s Employee Business Expenses. I did a quick review of the return and learned that the member had reported ten W2’s for income of $5,338, which seemed quite low compared to the $20,098 that…

This is an older case, but I wanted to share the story because I believe it is the largest dollar amount we have ever “saved” a member here at TaxAudit.com. It was August of 2006 when our member received a notice for a proposed balance due of $10.3 million. He…

Here are the “core values” stories from the final group of Membership Services Representatives, Team Diamonds. Each shows a commitment to providing our members with the very best customer service available while treating them with empathy and respect during a very stressful situation. April Arseneau There have been…

Here are more stories about how our Membership Services Representatives put our company’s core values into practice each day as they work tirelessly to reduce our members’ anxiety during one of the most stressful experiences of their lives. Joanna Michaelson Commitment/Service One of our Membership Services Reps had…

I asked the members of my team to tell a story about how they put our core values into practice each day in order to relieve our members from having to face one of life’s most intense emotional nightmares. Here’s what The Rubies Team − Ezra White, Sheri…

It’s not often that a taxpayer can disregard a court order, but a recent audit showed one of those rare instances. The IRS audited our members on the issue of the four dependents claimed on their tax return. Our members had claimed their divorced daughter and her three children,…

I just worked a challenging case involving a discrimination lawsuit settlement that one of our members received as a former employee. The IRS examiner insisted that self-employment tax should be assessed, and it was not easy to convince her to change her mind. During our first contact I explained that…

“You mean the case is closed with a zero balance due?” Tan asked. “Yes,” the IRS examiner said. Tan was pleasantly surprised. Even though he had sent in a well-organized response for our member, there had been documents missing from the package and not all of the deductions had been…

Winning is nice, but most prizes come with a price – from a tax standpoint, that is. At least this was the case for our member, an avid bass fisherman from Northern California. The member and his buddy had won first place in a fishing tournament, and their prize was…

We often hear stories about IRS examiners being unreasonable and difficult to deal with, but in my experience that’s not always how it goes. Here’s a story about an IRS agent who showed compassion for a taxpayer’s plight. The case was assigned to me in late July. Our member was an…

If there is any endeavor in life that embodies paperwork, files, paperwork, and more files it is our wonderful yearly tax dance. The importance of a comprehensive and complete tax file cannot be understated. We all want those helpful tax deductions; however, we must do our part as well. Creating a…

One of our core values here at TaxAudit.com is empathy. One of my colleagues, Mary Margosian, embodies this characteristic more than just about anyone I know. When one of our audit reps left the company, she took over a very difficult case. Her compassionate approach to the situation worked like…