Accounting News and Notes

Proposed Tax Assessments from Georgia/States While Addressing an IRS Audit Taught By Atlanta CPA

When Uncle Sam Comes Knocking and the IRS is auditing your return, often the issues get even more complicated when states assess tax monies based upon the preliminary figures given to them by the Internal Revenue Service. This is especially problematic, when the IRS has initially disallowed items that the taxpayer has proper and adequate documentation for, as suddenly a taxpayer is dealing on two fronts to strive to get their tax account correctly resolved.

It  is especially prudent to request the state to withhold and suspend collection efforts while an IRS audit is underway to ensure that only just and fair taxes are  pursued and subsequently paid. Accordingly, it is prudent in such circumstances to send GA/your home state a letter if such an event occurs in order to give the IRS adequate time to access and correct a taxpayers account. In all tax issues prudence, honesty, having the right documentation, working with a qualified CPA, and expediency are integral components of a successful IRS representation experience. I have presented below what a sample letter might look like when coordinating such issues with GA/your state:

Georgia Department of Revenue

Atlanta, GA

I am writing you in a good faith attempt to come to terms over the above taxpayers’ present predicament and to address their tax issues.  I am willing/eager to supply you with any information that you might need in order to process your file.  

Please note I have forwarded to the IRS (see our enclosed letter) all of the items that they have requested to conduct their audit. At present the IRS assessment, which GA is using, is substantially higher than what ultimately will be determined to be owed. We have forwarded to the IRS substantial volumes of information for them to address the issues they requested documentation for. Accordingly please cease all collection efforts and assessments for sixty days while we work with the IRS to determine and adjust their final liability. ASAP after a final determination is made I will forward to you copies for your file and final billing.

I appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to working with you to close their file. 

Sincerely,

John C. Dillard, CPA, PC

Partner in Charge 

Contact HIS CPA PC (A Christian CPA Firm) today.

To learn more about addressing IRS Tax Issues and Back Tax Returns visit http://www.hiscpa.com/working-with-the-irs.html  

John Dillard is an Christian Speaker/Author and Certified Public Accountant in Duluth, GA. To See how he takes Christ along with him to work visit http://www.hiscpa.com/ and for his latest book Overcoming Life’s 9/11’s: Job’s Journey and a Voice of One: Nehemiah’s Prayer visit http://www.john-dillard.com/ or call John Dillard CPA today at 770.814.9304 (All Rights Reserved) Dare to Attempt Something so Great for the Kingdom of God that it is doomed to failure, lest Christ be in it!    

We advise clients on: IRS representation, Offer in Compromise, Tax Problems, Incorporation in Georgia, Corporate and Personal Income Tax Returns, Part-time CFO, Virtual Controller, Business Planning, Offer in Compromise, Back Taxes, Bookkeeping.

Serving Atlanta, Duluth, Gwinnett, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Coweta,  Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Rockdale, Walton, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Henry, Newton, Bartow, Walton, Rockdale, Barrow, Spalding, Coweta, Dawson, Douglas, Fayette, Newton, Paulding, Spalding, Walton, Henry, Paulding, Douglas, Coweta, Canton, Covington, Douglasville, Druid Hills, East Point, Forest Park, Griffin, Lithonia, Mableton, McDonough, Milton, Mountain Park, Newnan, Powder Springs, Stockbridge, Union City, Villa Rica, Winder, Woodstock,  Smyrna, Sandy Springs, Marietta, East Point, Gainesville, Snellville, Buckhead, Buford, Peachtree City, Dunwoody, Kennesaw, Decatur, Conyers, Stone Mountain, North Fulton County, DeKalb County, Hall County, Clayton County, Cobb County, Forsyth County, Hart County, Jefferson County, Duluth, Atlanta, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Lawrenceville, Milton, Norcross, Snellville, Roswell, Buford, Cumming, Grayson, Lake Hartwell, Suwanee, Sugar Hill, Loganville, Lilburn, Dunwoody, Gainesville, Decatur, Atlanta GA, Gwinnett County, North Fulton County, Cherokee County, DeKalb County, Hall County, Clayton County, Cobb County, Forsyth County, Hart County, Jefferson County, Duluth, Atlanta, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Lawrenceville, Marietta, Milton, Norcross, Snellville, Roswell, Buford, Smyrna, Marietta, Cumming, Grayson, Hartwell, Suwanee, Sugar Hill, Loganville, Lilburn, East Point, Gainesville, Snellville, Buckhead, Buford, Peachtree City, Dunwoody, Kennesaw, Decatur, Conyers, Stone Mountain, Decatur. Sandy Springs, Peachtree City, Douglasville, Newnan, Griffin, Woodstock, Carrollton, Forest Park, Canton, College Park, Cartersville, McDonough, Riverdale, Fayetteville, Covington, Stockbridge, Conyers, Clarkston, Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Coweta, Dawson, and Douglas.

Atlanta, Georgia CPA on What Not to Do When Addressing IRS Representation Tax Issues

Top Five (5) Things To Avoid When the IRS Audit Notice Arrives

If you have just received a tax notice these tax tips will do much to ensure that you stay out of trouble with the IRS as well as mitigate it, once it occurs and will be one you will want to refer to again and again. These are the most common mistakes business owners and taxpayers make resulting in much extra stress and additional penalties and interest that can be legally avoided.

1. Not Use a CPA to prepare your original business return. Doing your return on your own, with only a box to ask for answers to your most strategic tax questions is a recipe for financial calamity. Not knowing when to be an S Corporation, LLC, LLP, C Corporation or will do much to increase your tax bill from the offset. Furthermore not knowing what a qualified plan is, much less which one is best for you and your business will do much to impair your ability to limit both your current tax bill and to plan for your long-term retirement.

2. Not retain a CPA to represent you before the IRS. If you have already done your personal or business return and now have received an IRS notice and are thinking you can represent yourself, you are about to make a bad situation worse. Not only did you do your own return and potentially file the return with many errors in tow, now you are thinking about representing yourself before the IRS and an IRS agent who is well-trained and versed in an area you are not; tax law. If doing your own return is akin to not taking care of yourself, resulting in your getting sick. Then handling your own surgery would be similar to performing your own surgery to help you get well.

3. Believe that a Tax Preparation or Bookkeeping Service has the same credentials. To become a CPA today in most states you need a five year BBA in Accounting. To pass a four part exam and to have two years of experience of working under the tutelage of a CPA as their direct supervisor. To remain a  CPA most states also require both Peer Review and ongoing continuing education or CPA. As a CPA of over three decades of experience, I have worked in the industry for thirty years, 10,950 days, or 262,800 hours. On the other hand to be a tax preparer requires only a business license only, and they might have only just started.

4. Go to the IRS Audit Meeting. It is best when you are quiet. You are not a CPA, you do not know tax law, your opinion, like mine, does not matter. Only Tax Law Matters and Your CPA Knows Tax Law. Work only with a CPA who has a proven and documentable track record of success in handling tax representation issues, penalty abatement and Offers in Compromise. Just as Jesus is our Intercessor before God so will should we want a CPA as an intercessor with the Internal Revenue Service.

5. CPA: Never Underestimate the Value. A CPA is an Tax Advocate who can help you:

-Legally Avoid Taxes by Paying Your Lowest Legal Possible Tax

-Make Timely Tax Elections

-Make Proper Tax Choices

-File Corporate and Personal Income Tax Returns on a Timely Basis

-Keep you Abreast of Tax Law

-Stay out of Trouble

-Plan for Retirement

-Serve as a Part-Time Virtual CFO/Controller

To read more about John Dillard CPA and his CPA practice, business consulting and IRS representation visit http://www.hiscpa.com/

To read about his books A Voice of One, Overcoming Life’s 9/11’s and Charleston Dawn and his speaking ministry visit http://www.john-dillard.com/

Serving Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Coweta,  Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Rockdale, Walton, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Henry, Newton, Bartow, Walton, Rockdale, Barrow, Spalding, Coweta, Dawson, Douglas, Fayette, Newton, Paulding, Spalding, Walton, Henry, Paulding, Douglas, Coweta, Canton, Covington, Douglasville, Druid Hills, East Point, Forest Park, Griffin, Lithonia, Mableton, McDonough, Milton, Mountain Park, Newnan, Powder Springs, Stockbridge, Union City, Villa Rica, Winder, Woodstock,  Smyrna, Sandy Springs, Marietta, East Point, Gainesville, Snellville, Buckhead, Buford, Peachtree City, Dunwoody, Kennesaw, Decatur, Conyers, Stone Mountain, Gwinnett County, North Fulton County, DeKalb County, Hall County, Clayton County, Cobb County, Forsyth County, Hart County, Jefferson County, Duluth, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Lawrenceville, Milton, Norcross, Snellville, Roswell, Buford, Cumming, Grayson, Lake Hartwell, Suwanee, Sugar Hill, Loganville, Lilburn, Dunwoody, Gainesville, Decatur, and Beyond

Atlanta CPA Provides Sample Cover Letter When Getting Ready to Prepare for an IRS Audit

When getting ready for an IRS audit it is good to start off the relationship with both the client and the IRS to build trust, confidence, availability and goal setting. As none of us in life will be able to do it all by ourselves, finding a CPA who has a proven track record of success in IRS Representation issues whether you are facing a lien, levy, IRS assessment, garnishment or readying to submit an Offer in Compromise is essential To that end and to assist I have provided a sample letter to the IRS that we use to begin an audit for a client with the end in mind.

Internal Revenue Service

401 W. Peachtree Street

Atlanta GA

Enclosures: Power of Attorney

Dear Sir or Madam, 

I am writing you in a good faith attempt to come to terms over the above taxpayers’ present predicament and to address their tax issues.  I am willing/eager to supply you with any information that you might need in order to process the audit. I am working with the client to get their tax filings correct and payments current ASAP.

It is my goal to help in their efforts to return to compliance. Since I

have assumed the role as their financial advisor (they had no advisor previously). I have consulted with them, and in good faith will need approximately thirty days to pull all of the information together that you have requested. Please ASAP confirm the years under audit as the notices I received indicated different years than what the client has understood, so that we might be pulling together the correct information requested.

Please cease all collection while  I work with the client to get all of their tax filings amended and payments current.

Sincerely,

John C. Dillard, CPA, PC

Partner in Charge

To read more about John Dillard CPA and his CPA practice, business consulting and IRS representation visit http://www.hiscpa.com/

To read about his books A Voice of One, Overcoming Life’s 9/11’s and Charleston Dawn and his speaking ministry visit http://www.john-dillard.com/

Serving Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Coweta,  Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Rockdale, Walton, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Henry, Newton, Bartow, Walton, Rockdale, Barrow, Spalding, Coweta, Dawson, Douglas, Fayette, Newton, Paulding, Spalding, Walton, Henry, Paulding, Douglas, Coweta, Canton, Covington, Douglasville, Druid Hills, East Point, Forest Park, Griffin, Lithonia, Mableton, McDonough, Milton, Mountain Park, Newnan, Powder Springs, Stockbridge, Union City, Villa Rica, Winder, Woodstock,  Smyrna, Sandy Springs, Marietta, East Point, Gainesville, Snellville, Buckhead, Buford, Peachtree City, Dunwoody, Kennesaw, Decatur, Conyers, Stone Mountain, Gwinnett County, North Fulton County, DeKalb County, Hall County, Clayton County, Cobb County, Forsyth County, Hart County, Jefferson County, Duluth, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Lawrenceville, Milton, Norcross, Snellville, Roswell, Buford, Cumming, Grayson, Lake Hartwell, Suwanee, Sugar Hill, Loganville, Lilburn, Dunwoody, Gainesville, Decatur, and Beyond