Tax Audit Lawyers in Lakeland
A "tax audit" in Florida is the process by which the appropriate tax authorities (either the IRS, at the federal level, or its state equivalent) investigate a tax filing in more detail than they do for ordinary filings, normally because there appears to be a discrepancy, or some other suspicious item, in somebody's tax returns. However, the IRS (and state tax authorities) sometimes do rounds of random audits, where they audit taxpayers at random, without necessarily suspecting them of any wrongdoing.
The actual procedure involved in a tax audit in Lakeland, Florida is normally fairly straightforward. If you hare chosen for an audit, you will receive a letter in the mail telling you as much. Before responding, it's important for you to make sure that the letter is authentic, because there are scammers who send fake audit letters to innocent victims, in an attempt to extort money out of them. You should search the Internet for the name of the organization that the letter claims to represent, and call them using the contact information on their website, and confirm that you are really being audited.
After confirming that the audit you're facing is really legitimate, there are a few things you can do to prepare. First, you should assemble all of the appropriate documents you have in your possession. This should include your tax return, W-2 forms, and records of any expenses that you claim as deductions. You should bring these documents, and any others that the auditor requests, to the meeting. At the meeting, the auditor will ask you a number of questions, which you should answer honestly and to the best of your knowledge.
Reasons For a Tax Audit in Lakeland, Florida
There are many reasons why the federal government, or the government of Florida may want to audit a taxpayer.
As discussed earlier, an audit might occur due to a taxpayer being randomly selected. If this happens to you, and you have been straightforward on your tax returns, it's unlikely that you'll have much to worry about.
However if the IRS or other tax agency suspects actual wrongdoing by a Lakeland, Florida taxpayer, that's a different matter. There are many different reasons why a government might decide to audit a taxpayer. The most frequent one is suspicion that they have underreported their income. If a taxpayer buys a massive 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.
If you claim such a massive number of deductions that your tax liability is unusually low, you may well be subject to an audit in Lakeland, Florida. A deduction is an allowable reduction in your taxable income, requiring you to pay taxes on a smaller portion of your income. Particular business expenses and charitable donations are frequent sources of tax deductions. However, some people add invalid deductions to their tax returns to reduce their tax burden. If the IRS is suspicious about your deductions, you should make sure you have relevant documentation to back them up.
How Can A Lakeland, Florida Tax Lawyer Help?
If you find yourself being audited in Lakeland, Florida, and are certain that you have done everything right in preparing your taxes, then the audit will probably be over quickly, with no penalties imposed. In cases like this, if anything is found to be wrong with your tax return, it is likely the result of an honest mistake, and the auditor will be aware of this, and will probably give you an opportunity to correct your mistake, without suffering any penalties, with the possible exception of being made to pay interest on any back taxes you owe.
But, in more complicated cases, chances are you would be well-served by a tax lawyer in Lakeland, Florida, to ensure that your tax audit goes smoothly.
There is none better than Joel. He is intelligent and sensitive when it comes to highly personal matters. Let him fight your battle!
He is the kind of lawyer who would sit down and explain things on how things works in legal matter but he is still fighting for me hard and he is very patient and very understanding with me being deaf and we have not got the results yet but he is trying very hard during week and weekends on getting results real fast and he don't take no bull from other companies and I would advice people to use him as your lawyer
Joel is very professional and I would recommend him for anyone.
This lawyer shows real commentment to his cases
This guy is awesome. The best of the best.
Mr. C. has been responsive, he's explained everything clearly and has asked questions that I had not thought of. He's not like the typical laywer profile - he's courteous and very patient with me. I would easily recommend him. I'm going to assume his service is a good value for my money although we're not at that stage yet.
Mr.C. is a excellent lawyer he always kept us well informed on the case, I am very satisfied with the work that he has done and I am sure that anyother person who were to hire him will be too. Also he took the time and patience to talk to me personally after all the work he had. I would strongly recommend him. Very very good.
I had a great experience with this lawyer. I highly recommend him to anyone. Emails and phone calls were returned promptly. My questions were answered with a clear understanding. If he did not know the answer he would research it and get back to me quickly. I believe he worked very hard to gather the information we needed for the case. If i ever need another lawyer in the future, i will definitely hire him again.
Joel kept in constant contact with me. I really liked that about him. Most lawyers dont even talk to you, they have their secretary take a message. Joel did not once do that. Joel believed in me and my case. I would recommend him to anyone and use him again if I ever have to do this again. He cares about the situation and had my best interest at heart.
Joel had excellent response time, he spent time with me on the telephone discussing possibility's of my case. I highly recommend Joel, he was very easy to talk to and spoke to me in layman's terms so I could understand what was going on, he sent me numerous e-mails in regards to my case. He was willing to go the extra mile for me and that was something very special.
He was great and very easy to work with. I would definately use and/or refer him again.
I was very pleased with the Mr. C.'s response. As much as I deeply appreciated the time he took in looking over the information, I decided it was best not to pursue the issue. He was very kind and I will most defintely keep his name should I ever need assistance in the future.