For most people, the thought of an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or Minnesota Department of Revenue (MDR) audit can inspire fear and worry. Did you do something wrong? What happens if you made an honest mistake? Will you go to jail? Even the most honest taxpayer will be alarmed when they receive an audit notice.continue reading…
Audits
The Importance of Source Documents
Recordkeeping is a task that few people enjoy, whether you are doing it for yourself or for your business. Yet maintaining documentation of financial transactions is critical not just for the health of your company, but to protect yourself in the event of an audit. Source documents create a paper trail that documents a financialcontinue reading…
Year-end tips to tackle your taxes in 2020
A new year is right around the corner. However, you do not need to wait until Jan. 1 to make resolutions for 2020. You can start preparing for a better year now by tackling some tax issues and taking steps to increase your refund. Over the next few weeks, you can utilize some of thecontinue reading…
What do we know about audits and IRS enforcement?
Since 2010, Congress has been asking the IRS to do more with less money. This has reduced the IRS’s audit resources by 28 percent, and the audit rate has fallen from 0.9% in 2010 to only 0.5% last year. And, the overall number of audits dropped by almost half over the same period. Here arecontinue reading…
IRS admits it audits the poor just as often as the rich
In April, the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica reported on a surprising imbalance at the IRS. Although it would almost certainly be both more effective and bring in more revenue if it focused on auditing the rich, the agency does not do this. No, it audits the working poor at almost the exact same rate as itcontinue reading…