The IRS began replenishing its workforce with the additional funding only to have to terminate workers or lay them off due to mandated federal workforce reductions. The IRS trains its audit workforce by examining the tax returns of individuals and small businesses. As the IRS continues to examine tax returns, Accounting, Tax, and Financial Professionals need clients to understand the need for documentation and procedures to substantiate what IRS examiners are pursuing. Learn the high audit risk areas and ways to help clients survive an IRS audit with little or no change. It is critical for Accounting, Tax, and Financial Professionals in public accounting to understand the risk to clients and to themselves in tax return preparation and planning since the IRS continues to increase its audit coverage and is examining more taxpayers than it has in the recent past.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the IRS process for selecting returns for examination
- Identify the types of returns the IRS is examining
- Understand the hot examination issues that the IRS is focusing on to help clients reduce their exposure to additional tax assessments
- Determine if your client is a victim of tax-related identity theft
- Determine strategies and procedures to resolve examinations with IRS examiners and present your clients’ tax positions in the best light possible
Major Topics
- Criteria that the IRS uses to select returns for examination
- Substantiation requirements for travel, charitable contributions, vehicles, meals, virtual currency considerations, and tax-related identity theft
- Understanding worker classification determinations on who is an employee and who is an independent contractor
- Distinguishing S corporation officer’s reasonable compensation issues
- How the IRS holds persons other than an employer liable for unpaid payroll taxes, a.k.a., the trust fund recovery penalty
- Tax-related identity theft procedures
