NASE Gives Tips On Making Audits Less Painful

You’re sure to hear a lot about taxes over the next few months; this season is like Christmas for adults, with the stakes changed from presents and coal to refunds and audits.  Fortunately, just as coal isn’t the worst substance in the world, audits are survivable if you prepare well enough.

The National Association for the Self-Employed has boiled the process down to three basic "C"s: "careful recordkeeping, "check the math," and "consider a professional review."

The first step should be fairly obvious.  After all, if the IRS calls upon you to provide them with old info, it’s much easier for everyone if you can just whip out a few folders.  Digging through stacks of documents that have shed their paperclips is not exactly a fun alternative.

Step number two shouldn’t be hard to explain, either.  Sure, it doesn’t take a genius to carry a two or punch the correct button on a calculator.  But errors can occur, and when thousands of dollars are at stake, it’s best to play things safe.  Consider letting a computer program do the math.

Finally, playing things safe is also where step three comes in.  People who fill out tax forms for a living are perhaps less likely to goof them up.  You don’t even need to pay a professional to do the whole return; having one check it should be cheaper while still allowing you to play it safe.

Additional info is available in the NASE’s Tax Resource Center if these tips have put you in the mood to do more tax-related reading.