An IRS letter arrived. Send it to us before you answer anything.
Most IRS letters are correspondence notices, not full audits, and most are resolvable in one written response. The mistake is answering fast without knowing what the agency actually wants.
Do not answer the letter yet
The single most expensive thing a taxpayer does with an IRS notice is respond quickly and informally. A phone call, a hand-written explanation, or a partial document dump can widen the scope of an inquiry that would have closed with one properly framed written response.
Send us the notice first. Reading it takes us a few minutes and costs you nothing. In many cases the letter is an automated matching notice rather than an audit, and the entire matter closes with a single letter and the right attachment.
What the common notices actually are
The notice type in the top corner tells you most of what you need to know.
- CP2000. The IRS matched a 1099 or W-2 against your return and found a difference. This is not an audit. It is a proposed adjustment, and it is frequently wrong because it ignores offsetting basis or deductions.
- CP14 and CP501. Balance due notices. The math is usually right, but penalty abatement may be available if you have a clean compliance history.
- Letter 2205 or 566. An actual examination has been opened. This is where representation matters and where informal responses do damage.
- Michigan Treasury and city notices. State and local agencies run their own matching programs, and a federal adjustment often triggers a state one months later.
Substantiation is the whole game
Examinations are rarely arguments about the law. They are arguments about proof. A deduction you legitimately took but cannot document is functionally the same as one you were not entitled to, and that is the position most small businesses find themselves in.
We work through what documentation exists, reconstruct what can be reconstructed from bank and card records, and present it in the format the examiner is expecting. Where records genuinely do not exist, we say so early and focus on the items that can be won rather than fighting everything.
You do not have to be a client
We take audit and notice work on returns prepared elsewhere, including returns prepared by the taxpayer. There is no expectation that you move your ongoing work here.
Scope varies enormously between a one-letter matching notice and a field examination, so this work is quoted per matter after we read the notice. Bring the letter, the return in question, and whatever supporting records you have.
Getting started
- 01
Send the letter
Scan or drop off the notice. Do not respond yet.
- 02
We read the position
We identify exactly what the agency is asserting and what proof closes it.
- 03
We respond
A written response with substantiation, on your behalf, before the deadline.
- 04
Resolution
We track it to close and request penalty abatement where it applies.
IRS Audit Assistance questions
- I did not file with you. Can you still help?
- Yes. We handle notices on returns prepared elsewhere.
- Does a notice mean I am being audited?
- Usually not. Most are automated matching notices and close with one letter.
IRS Audit Assistance across West Michigan
Book a free consultation
Bring your last return and a payroll register. We tell you what we would change and what it costs. No charge, no obligation.