Taxpayers, Examiners Both Have Big Roles In Large Case Audits, IRS Says in Guidelines

Taxpayers and exam teams have significant roles to play in audits, the Internal Revenue Service said in new examination guidelines unveiled by the agency’s Large Business & International (LB &I) Division.

The publication offered guidelines for the so-called Quality Examination process for the nation’s largest taxpayers. Planning is a major part of the initiative and taxpayers and audit teams should be communicating throughout the entire process, IRS said.

LB &I tax returns are among the most complicated IRS receives, and examining those returns can be time-consuming and challenging, the agency said

“Timely, clear, and consistent communication between taxpayers and IRS exam teams can help keep exams moving forward to conclusion,” IRS said.

A key element of the audits is planning, the guidelines said. As an initial step, the exam team is required to do a pre-exam analysis to gather and review all pertinent information about the taxpayer that is available publicly and within IRS.

Text of the examination guidelines is online at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/publication4837.pdf.