5 Tips for Avoiding a Notice of Deficiency

If you ever receive a notice of deficiency from the IRS, it’s going to send your stress levels skyrocketing in a matter of just seconds. A notice of deficiency is an IRS notice letting you know that you made a mistake while filing taxes last tax season and owe more money to the IRS.

You should do whatever it takes to avoid ever getting IRS communication in the form of a notice of deficiency. It’s never fun trying to work your way out of an IRS notice of deficiency.

Here are five tips that should help you steer clear of an IRS notice of deficiency.

1. Hire a Tax Professional to Help You With Filing Taxes

If filing taxes is the least bit complicated for you, it isn’t something you should be doing on your own. Instead, you should be relying on a tax professional to help you with your taxes.

A tax professional will make sure your taxes are filed properly. They’ll decrease the chances of you receiving an IRS notice of deficiency in the mail.

2. Provide a Tax Professional With the Right Tax Information

Just because you hire a tax professional to assist you with filing taxes doesn’t mean you aren’t going to get an IRS notice of deficiency. You might still receive one if you don’t supply a tax professional with the right tax information.

You should gather all the necessary tax information and set your tax professional up with it. It’ll ensure that they’re able to file your taxes in the right way.

3. Remember to Include All Forms of Income When Filing Taxes

If you have multiple streams of income coming in on a regular basis, it’ll be important for you to include all of them when filing taxes. Otherwise, you can almost guarantee that you’re going to get an IRS notice of deficiency.

You should keep tabs on how much money you’re making throughout the course of the year. You should also provide your tax professional with a detailed breakdown of where all of your income is coming from.

4. Hang On to Your Tax Information After Filing Taxes

Once you’re all done filing taxes, you might be tempted to throw out all the tax information that you have. You’re done with it, after all, right?

Wrong! You should always keep any tax information you have for at least a few years after filing taxes. This way, you’ll be able to check to see if an IRS notice of deficiency is correct should you ever receive one.

5. Call a Lawyer to Assist You With an IRS Notice of Deficiency

If you do your best to avoid getting an IRS notice of deficiency and still receive one, you’ll need to spring into action quickly. You’ll only have about 90 days to get things squared away with the IRS.

You should touch base with a lawyer who specializes in helping those who have received an IRS notice of deficiency. They’ll be able to help you figure out what you should do next.

Avoid Receiving an IRS Notice of Deficiency at All Costs

In a perfect world, you should do your absolute best to avoid getting an IRS notice of deficiency in the first place. It’ll make life a lot less stressful for you when it comes to filing taxes.

Use the tips found here to steer clear of getting an IRS notice of deficiency. They should keep you in the clear as you move forward.

Find more useful tax tips by reading through some of the other articles posted on our blog.