The Federal Budget Deficit is a large concern and the IRS has become more vigilant with tax enforcement. The IRS is already paying more attention to returns that might have been passed over for an audit in years past. With more audits occurring, more and more people are concerned about making small mistakes that might flag their tax return for an audit. Taxes are no place to falsify information but small mistakes and common practices such as rounding numbers can give an IRS agent enough reason to audit your entire return. Doing your taxes the right way from the start is always the best advice. In part two of our three part series on Tax Tips to Avoiding a Costly IRS Audit, here is a list of additional “Red Flags” that can trigger an audit of a tax return.
What might bring your return to the attention of the Internal Revenue Service?
Income – Suspiciously Low: The IRS knows how much somebody in your field earns on average. If you are making less than others in the same profession that raises an audit/red flag. Also, if you have relatively low income but live in a high income area the IRS may review your return.
Income – Unusually High: Though fewer than one-percent of taxpayers are audited each year, those making over $100,000 are 500% more likely to be audited.
Income – Failure to Report: If you file a return but fail to report ALL the income you received, you’ve run up an audit/red flag. All of your wages, interest, dividends, capital gains and miscellaneous income must be reported to the IRS. The IRS receives copies of ALL W-2 and 1099s and computers match these records
Income- Large Swings:. The IRS believes that your income should be consistent from one year to the next. If there are large changes in income, that cannot be backed up by your 1099s or W-2s, this is a audit/red flag.
Itemized Deductions – Too High: Any deductions outside of the “average” will release a audit/red flag. So, watch out if you have a lot of itemization such as (Medical or Dental Expenses)(Taxes:, Real Estate or Personal Property) (Interest: Home Mortgage, Points or PMI-Insurance Premiums) (Gifts: Cash, Check or Fair Market Value of Donated Goods) (Sizable Casualty or Theft Losses) (Unreimbursed Employee Expenses)
Itemized Deductions – Charitable Non-Cash – Over $500: If you don’t get an appraisal for donations of valuable personal property or if you fail to file Form 8283 for donations over $500 an audit/red flag appears. Taxpayers are entitled to claim a deduction for the fair market value of the property donated NOT the original cost. For the current Fair Market Value, there are two free tools at your disposal: ItsDeductible, from Intuit, and DeductionPro, from H&R Block
Itemized Deductions – Overly Generous Charitable Contributions: Charity is wonderful, but too much charity could be audit/red flag. If the average person in your income bracket donates about $500 to charity and you claim you donated $5,000 you better have detailed and accurate receipts.
Itemized Deductions – Employee Job Expenses: .The IRS starts with the assumption that if an employer doesn’t reimburse a specific expenditure made by the employee that expenditure is probably not a true job expense. Consequently, the mere existence of a Job Expense will cause an IRS red flag. So, if you are a W-2 employee you must meet the following guidelines: total of all expenses exceeds two percent of your adjusted gross income; the expenses are deemed “ordinary and necessary”; and the expenses were not reimbursed.
These tax tips are just examples of the type of the proactive, year-round tax guidance we provide to our clients. We have more we want to share with you about IRS Audits so look for our third and final installment of Audit Red Flags in the coming days.
If you need to file your 2011 or earlier tax returns, or have an IRS or State Tax problem, our experienced tax professionals can help. For more information about our tax services, visit us today at www.professionaltaxresolution.com. You may also Contact us by phone at (877) 889-6527 or by email at info@protaxres.com to receive a free, no obligation consultation.