Tax Audit Lawyers in Spartanburg County

An "audit" is an administrative proceeding in Spartanburg County, South Carolina whereby the IRS, or a local tax-collection agency looks at a person's (or business's) tax filings in more detail than they do in ordinary cases. This is usually done when the tax return has a suspicious discrepancy on it, or if the taxpayer was simply picked at random. It's not uncommon for tax authorities to conduct random audits, providing people with an incentive to be honest on their taxes, knowing that they could be audited at random.

The process of a Spartanburg County, South Carolina 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. Nonetheless, 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 receive the letter, and confirm its authenticity, you will have to meet with an auditor at the time and place specified in the letter, and subsequent communications with the auditor. The auditor will tell you what documents and records you need to bring to the meeting. They will then ask you some questions to clear up whatever discrepancy they found in your tax return.

Reasons For a Tax Audit in Spartanburg County, South Carolina

There are plethora of reasons why South Carolina's government, or the federal government, might conduct a tax audit.

A taxpayer can be chosen for an audit at random, even if the tax authorities don't suspect any wrongdoing. The idea behind these random audits is to keep taxpayers on their toes. So, if you are audited for this reason, and know that you've done everything thoroughly in filing your taxes, you will likely be fine.

Nonetheless, some people in Spartanburg County, South Carolina are audited because the government suspects that they are underreporting their income. For instance, if you report that you only make ,000 per year, and then go out and buy an expensive sports car, the IRS and state tax authorities are going to want to discover where the money to buy that car came from.

If you claim such a large number of deductions that your tax liability is unusually low, you may well be subject to an audit in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. A deduction is an allowable reduction in your taxable income, requiring you to pay taxes on a smaller portion of your income. Certain business expenses and charitable donations are common 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 proper documentation to back them up.

How Can A Spartanburg County, South Carolina Tax Lawyer Help?

If you find yourself being audited in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, and are sure that you have done everything right in preparing your taxes, then the audit will likely be over rapidly, 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 likely 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 convoluted cases, chances are you would be well-served by a tax lawyer in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, to ensure that your tax audit goes smoothly.