Comments on: How to Get Audited By the IRS

By: lynn

lynn — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:38:56 +0000

Not always the case. The IRS counted 10000 as income, even though I took it from a savings account to pay off a vehicle. Who am I to argue. I admit they intimidate me.

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 23:26:18 +0000

I have a quick question regarding federal taxes. I have an opportunity to purchase 179 depreciation from a solar energy company at a 25% discount of what my actual tax liability would be. Does this trigger any audit flags?

By: 4hendricks

4hendricks — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:16:31 +0000

Please don’t let me be audited, I am not the best bookkeeper.

By: cubiclegeoff

cubiclegeoff — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:48:20 +0000

I agree with this. I forgot to click one button and my filing was wrong. luckily I found it before I filed.

By: tigernicole86

tigernicole86 — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 16:35:34 +0000

Just remember, you’re never too rich or too poor to escape the possibility of an audit.

By: Dr. Timothy Lawler

Dr. Timothy Lawler — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 11:24:06 +0000

Great article, and I agree with you on the deductions on the business end. However, even if you are doing this on the legit side, you still might get flagged for the business deductions. This is just part of what doing business is all about. Keep up the entertaining posts!

By: Pat S.

Pat S. — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 00:18:51 +0000

Concur. I’d just as soon not get audited. Not that I have anything to hide.

By: wylerassociate

wylerassociate — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 23:54:43 +0000

good stuff flexo.

By: nimrodel

nimrodel — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 15:57:30 +0000

Woo, not a single one of these apply to me.

I find the idea of an article about how TO get audited amusing :)

By: Ceecee

Ceecee — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 14:18:27 +0000

This is really great information, Thanks!

By: skylog

skylog — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 02:19:42 +0000

great article! i enjoyed the read, even though it does not really apply to me…except for all those funds i have sitting in the caymans. i kid. i kid.

that said, is it really true about #5? i understand the thinking, but statistically?

By: tbork84

tbork84 — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 22:47:51 +0000

It may be fun to do, but is it really wise to poke the bear like that? Having the IRS remember me as “the guy who threw it back in their face” might be one we can add to Flexo’s how to get audited list.

By: bob

bob — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:02:44 +0000

Cash charitable contributions are limited to 50% of AGI, non-cash are limited to 20-30% of AGI. No one is deductiong 90% in one year.

By: Manuel Davis

Manuel Davis — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:10:41 +0000

If you want to go looking for an audit you should do all the things Flexo mentioned above but be sure to leave out a nice big deduction that you could take, so when they do audit you, you can file an amended return and get back more money instead of having to pay them more, always fun to throw it back in the face of the IRS, audits go both ways… which many people fail to realize.

By: notofyurbusiness

notofyurbusiness — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:34:00 +0000

I’d say, just pay them, give the IRS generously and they’ll stay off your back, they just want your money. If you are gonna pick a fight, pick the mafia, they will just kill you and it’s over. The IRS will destroy your life and that of your kids and their kids…

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:48:46 +0000

Maybe Joe Stack should’ve read this article before he went into the IRS building – like 20 years ago!

By: sbruce45

sbruce45 — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:39:46 +0000

I only take a minor issue with # 5. Rather than ‘file your taxes by hand” it would be better to be “prepare your taxes manually”. I could use software to prepare my taxes and then file them by hand. Thus I am then not hit with calculation mistakes. Whether you do it with software or by hand you can always enter a wrong number, like your SSN.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:51:03 +0000

lol totally weird yet amusing :)

By: jim

jim — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:18:12 +0000

Rounding off cents to the nearest dollar is perfectly acceptable and explicitly documented as OK by the IRS. Rounding numbers is only a problem if you round to very large figures. i.e. lots of figures like $50,000 or $10,000 or $5,000 look suspiciously made up.

I’ve heard that doing taxes by hand is actually less likely to get audited cause its simply more work for the IRS to screen and then audit a hand written return compared to a computerized return. So they end up reviewing and auditing a lower % of hand written returns. I don’t know for sure how true this is but it seems to make sense.

By: RJ Weiss

RJ Weiss — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:47:34 +0000

Wednesday must be opposite day. Got a good laugh out of this one.

By: Angela Nibbs

Angela Nibbs — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:26:33 +0000

terrific post flexo! among my favorites.

By: Monevator

Monevator — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:55:02 +0000

This is my favorite first sentence of the year. Genius!

By: Financial Samurai

Financial Samurai — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:29:55 +0000

What are your thoughts on the discrimination against those who make more than $200,000? If you make more than $200,000 you are paying much more in absolute taxes. Is this the gov’t getting greedy?

Also, can we talk more about the amount of charity donations as a percentage of one’s income? Let’s say I make $1 million/yr…. donating $100,000 sounds like a lot of money, but only 10% of my income. Is that LESS suspicious than someone making only $100,000 a year but donating $20,000 of his income for example?

thnx

By: Evan

Evan — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:58:16 +0000

That’s only the case until you pay whatever your pay increase was in the form of CPAs and Attorneys to fight off the IRS lol

By: Jonathan A.

Jonathan A. — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:40:20 +0000

I don’t normally comment on these types of things, however #9 is totally false. You are talking about a Currency Transaction Report or a Suspicious Acivity Report. These are filed by a bank, a casino, etc. if you deposit more than $10,000 IN CASH or less if they think you might be structuing to avoid the trigger. However, this report is for money laundering and has nothing to do with the IRS. The only way the IRS could see transfer from your business savings to personal savings is if they subpoenaed those records and even then it’s hard to tell what’s a business savings vs personal savings.

By: steveDH

steveDH — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:02:22 +0000

I’m trying my best to be targeted too! With huge medical deductions that have driven my taxes to zero and a tax credit to boot, I’ll get back more than I paid in. ($3.00 Woohoo). I’m looking forward to it (right!) but I’m guarding my receipts more closely than any other possession I’ve got.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:56:44 +0000

Flexo,

In regard to #5, I’ve heard differently. Aside from that, I’ve made certain mathematical errors that resulted in the return being sent back to me for correction, not an audit. They are two totally different things.

By: Dustin | Engaged Marriage

Dustin | Engaged Marriage — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:34:58 +0000

It looks like I’m still clear of all of these red flags. I wouldn’t mind getting audited for earning more than $200K sometime soon, though. :)

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:38:35 +0000

ha! Love it. :) Sometimes the best “how to” articles are the ones that take the opposite approach. I’m still working on my taxes this year, but I work closely with my accountant to avoid as many red flags as possible. As a small business owner though, there are always a few little things that could raise red flags.