TaxConnections Picture - Zipped Mouth ShutIf you chose to represent yourself in an Internal Revenue Service Examination realize the IRS Revenue Agent (RA) or Tax Compliance Officer (TCO) assigned to your file is trained very thoroughly to advocate on behalf of the United States Government. One method used quite often is to create a (false) sense of security in the personal interview setting or even on the phone with cathartic yet repetitive narratives. This is done in my humble opinion to lull you into a sense of complacency which subsequently if not held in check leads to providing responses way beyond the scope of the audit matters in question. More importantly when you talk too much you are creating opportunity for the RA or TCO to potentially broaden the authority of the audit should you happen to say something inadvertently that could appear circumspect.

When it comes to the actual audit process:

1. Recognize the IRS RA or TCO assigned your file is a person too who is just trying to do their job of advocating as aggressively as allowed by law on behalf of the US government and resist the urge to posture aggressively in response as it accomplishes very little to nothing and is generally futile. Most RAs and TCOs are reasonable and I’ll even go out on a limb saying that there even a few that are outstanding which can be a sincere blessing. If however you get an IRS RA or TCO that is a unilateral jackass – they do exist – this is where you need to focus on internalizing emotions and recognize you can request a different examiner. Read More