Tax Audit Lawyers in Hopkinsville

In Hopkinsville, Kentucky, a "tax audit" is a procedure in which the IRS or local tax authorities conduct an investigation of a taxpayer's tax filings, looking at them in more detail than they ordinarily do. Usually, they do this because there is something suspicious in the tax return. State and federal tax authorities also do a certain number of random audits each year, without necessarily suspecting that an individual auditee has done anything wrong.

The process of a Hopkinsville, Kentucky tax audit is usually pretty straightforward. If and when you are faced with a tax audit, you'll receive a letter from the IRS, or its state equivalent, telling you that you're being audited. However, you should not assume that this letter is authentic, because con artists will sometimes send fake audit letters to squeeze money out of innocent taxpayers. You should seek independent confirmation of the letter's authenticity by searching the Internet for the name of the government agency in question, and contact them for more information.

Once you have made sure that your audit is indeed real, you can do a few things to get ready for it. Most importantly, you should gather all of the documents that the auditor has asked for, as well as any additional documents and evidence that you think might help clear up any confusion about your tax return. You should bring these to the meeting with the auditor, and truthfully (to the best of your knowledge) answer all of the questions that the auditor asks.

Reasons For a Tax Audit in Hopkinsville, Kentucky

There are plenty of reasons why Kentucky's government, or the federal government, might conduct a tax audit.

As mentioned earlier, you might get audited simply because you were chosen at random. If this is the case, and you know that your tax return was completely truthful, and have the documentation to back it up, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

However if the IRS or other tax agency suspects actual wrongdoing by a Hopkinsville, Kentucky taxpayer, that's a different matter. There are many different reasons why a government might decide to audit a taxpayer. The most common one is suspicion that they have underreported their income. If a taxpayer buys a large number of expensive luxury items, but reports little or no income on their tax returns, the government will definitely want to know where the money to buy all those things came from, and why it hasn't been declared as taxable income.

Claiming an unusually-high number of deductions is another common reason for tax audits in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. A tax deduction is some expenditure that you can subtract from your taxable income, thereby reducing your tax liability. If you claim such a huge number of deductions that your tax liability has been reduced to almost nothing, the IRS will probably want to make sure that all of these deductions are valid.

How Can A Hopkinsville, Kentucky Tax Lawyer Help?

If you are audited in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and believe that you have done everything right in preparing and filing your tax return, you probably don't have much to worry about. If there is anything wrong with your tax return, it was probably the result of an honest mistake, which will result in light penalties - usuallyy just an order to pay any back taxes you owe, plus interest.

However, there are times when an audit is conducted to investigate far more serious issues. If you find yourself facing allegations from the IRS of serious wrongdoing, and believe yourself to be innocent, you should seek the advice of a Hopkinsville, Kentucky tax attorney immediately.