OPTIONS FOR TAX AUDIT REPRESENTATION

DO-IT-YOURSELF OR HIRE A PROFESSIONAL

Taxpayers have many options available to them when defending an income tax audit from the State level governments, or the IRS. Whether you use a tax professional or do-it-yourself, you still need an efficient and concise way to present your information.

This Audit Defense Package provides you with everything you need to arrange your material in an efficient and concise format, with the necessary reasons and justification for your documentation included to provide the best, most defensible position.

DO-IT-YOURSELF

This is generally never a good idea.
Taxpayers do not know the necessary requirements for proving their deductions.
Taxpayers also have little to no experience dealing with an Audit, compared to professionals that know the procedures, know what is expected, and move the process along more efficiently.
However, if you still decide to handle the audit yourself for whatever reason, The Audit Defense Package offers you guidance and will supply you with the critical details necessary to defend the deductions you have claimed, and rightfully deserve.
The Audit Defense Package is the best option if you decide to defend yourself in the case of an income tax audit.

HIRING A TAX PROFESSIONAL

Completing a tax audit is an art form. Tax Professionals, whether they are a Tax Lawyer, Certified Public Accountant, or an Enrolled Agent, have the knowledge, experience, and skill necessary to conduct a strong audit defense.
State and IRS officials will treat you more favorably knowing you have someone in your corner that knows the procedures and rules.
However, even the tax professional will not have the sheer amount of defensive legal material that is included in the Audit Defense Package.
By utilizing the Audit Defense Package, not only will it save the Tax Professional valuable time by not having to organize your documents themselves, but it will also save you, the taxpayer, both time and money.
Hiring a Tax Professional in conjunction with using the Audit Defense Package, will provide the best defense in any income tax audit situation.

USING A MASS TAX RETURN SERVICE

A vast majority of taxpayers choose to go with mass tax return services, such as TurboTax and H&R Block. These companies are targeted at the middle class, the majority of which cannot afford to hire a Tax Lawyer, CPA, or Enrolled Agent and pay for all those hours of preparation, communication, and representation.

TurboTax

TurboTax has an Audit Support Guarantee that claims to give you free audit guidance from a trained tax professional:

This comes with year-round answers to your audit questions and assistance with what to expect from the process.

TurboTax has optional fee based services called “MAX Assist & Defend” that claim to provide “full audit representation from a licensed tax professional,” and give you “Priority Care” which basically means they’ll put you before the people that merely have the free Audit Support Guarantee. The package is for an extra fee of $35 that you have to purchase before you even file your return, and supposedly lasts “as long as your return can be audited.”

A quick survey of online reviews shows many disappointed and unhappy customers with unsatisfactory real life experiences.

H&R Block

H&R Block includes “Free In-person Audit Support” with most of their packages:

This means if you get audited, an H&R Block Enrolled Agent will assist you with notices initiated by the IRS or State Governments, provide you with information regarding how to prepare for an audit, and guide you through what to expect.

H&R Block also has a similar program called “Peace of Mind” Extended Tax Service Plan. For $40, paid before you file your taxes, your “return will be protected for 3 years.” They will also pay up to $6,000 in additional taxes owed due to their own error. With this plan, if you are audited a “qualified H&R Block Enrolled Agent” will accompany or represent you, with Power of Attorney.

A quick survey of online reviews shows many disappointed and unhappy customers with unsatisfactory real life experiences.

THE TRUTH ABOUT USING A MASS TAX RETURN SERVICE

Both of these seem very tempting considering the price,

but what they don’t tell you is how much this will actually help your case:

These types of protection are audit INSURANCE, you have to pay before you file your taxes, whether you actually get audited or not!

It is unlikely that the Enrolled Agents at H&R Block or TurboTax will know the actual Code Sections and defensive rules that your documentation really needs, and this could cost you a fortune.

They don’t tell you that these representatives may have little experience or training when it comes to the Audit Process. They may have merely satisfied the minimum requirements for a credential. The dangers of preparing low-quality tax returns are very high.

What happens when H&R Block makes a mistake that costs you more than $6,000? That’s money out of your pocket.

There is no substitute for this Audit Defense Package, with all the guidance, support, and defensive material that is already structured and prepared.

In all these circumstances, no matter who prepared the return, no matter what software was used to prepare the return, no matter who is or is not representing the taxpayer, the critical key to a successful audit is still the preparation of the documents.

The vast majority of audits are correspondence audits, where you mail your documentation to some address, they are not face-to-face sit down audits. These promises of representation and accompaniments do nothing for you in this case.

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