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What Is Audit-Proofing? The basic
concept of this book centers on audit preparation during the
tax year, not next year when you file your tax return, nor two
years later when you get an "invitation" from the
IRS to "come down and show us your books." Audit-proofing
means preparing for the possibility of an audit day by day during
the current tax year. You prepare for an IRS audit by knowing
what tax law rules the IRS could question, and what documentation
it could require to substantiate or verify your current on-going
deductions and expenses.
In this book, I differentiate audit-proofing from audit-planning:
Audit-planning occurs immediately before an impending audit
when you prepare your strategy for appearing at an audit. This
means that once you receive an audit "invitation"
letter, you take the time to plan your defense against the upcoming
attack on your tax return. Audit-planning usually involves a
strategy session with your tax preparer or consultant, when
the need arises. Audit-proofing is an on-going activity year-round,
every year.
This distinction is vital to understanding the concept of audit-proofing
presented in this book. To audit- proof your tax return means
to prepare during the tax year so that you could later withstand
the complete scrutiny of an IRS audit. The objective of an audit-proofed
tax return is a "no-change audit"- or an audit, should
one occur, that will result in no additional
taxes.
Audit-proofing does not mean that you will never be audited.
No one could ever guarantee that. However, there are important
strategies and techniques that you can follow that will actually
minimize your chances of being audited.
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