Independent Contractor Compliance Blog

Employment Tax Audit Secrets: Part 9 – The Right Way to Argue with Your Auditor

Continuing my series on “things the employment tax auditor might not tell you” we now arrive at a critical juncture. The auditor has examined your records and found a whole list of “exceptions” or alleged “misclassified workers. You’ve argued with him and brought out your best documents to prove you did it right but he’s [...]

Employment Tax Auditor Secrets: Part 8 – Sitting Down with the Auditor After They’ve Reviewed Your Accounting Records

In this series I last left you with the auditor humming to him/herself in your quiet room-a busy little bee, digging through a pile of your dusty old accounting books. Whenever you checked in and asked “How’s it going?” you got a little smile and a short, non-committal response like, “Fine…” Eventually, the auditor will [...]

Employment Tax Audit Secrets: Part 7 – Arguments Not to Make to the Employment Tax Auditor

In my continuing series on things employment tax auditors likely won’t tell you, today I’m going to discuss statements you can make to the Tax Auditor which guarantee closer scrutiny and more trouble for you and your business. Before I start with this segment I want to assure you I know no one reading this [...]

Employment Tax Audit Secrets: Part 6 – Hot Buttons for Auditors

Continuing my series of things employment tax auditors are not likely to tell you, today I’m going to cover “hot buttons” for auditors. What are they? These are entries in your accounting records that virtually guarantee closer scrutiny of your business. The first accounting document the employment tax auditor may look at is your Schedule [...]

Employment Tax Audit Secrets: Part 5 – What the Auditor is Looking For

If you have ever been on the wrong side of a government tax audit, you probably have wondered what the Tax Auditor is doing locked up in your conference room with your records all day? (Later, you most likely found out). The detailed procedures can vary from agency-to-agency and even from auditor-to-auditor within the same agency, but in general [...]

Employment Tax Audit Secrets: Part 4 – The Employment Tax Audit Meeting

Continuing our series on “things tax auditors may not tell you” we’ve now arrived at the moment of truth. This is the infamous day. The auditor is showing up for the first time to examine your “books and records” (auditor talk) and determine if you have properly classified your IC’s (grief for you unless you [...]

Employment Tax Audit Secrets: Part 3 – Getting ready for the first meeting

Continuing our series on “things tax auditors may not tell you” today’s installment covers preparing for the first meeting with the employment tax auditor. You have agreed to an appointment for an employment tax auditor to examine your records and review your classification of IC’s. The appointment has been set for next month-thirty days from [...]

Employment Tax Audit Secrets: Part 2 – Questions to Ask the Tax Auditor

So you’ve been contacted by a government tax auditor and verified he/she is legitimate. What now? Before agreeing to a start date for the audit, here are a few questions you may wish to ask the auditor: Why are we being audited? There are a variety of reasons you could have been selected; a random [...]

Employment Tax Audit Secrets: Part 1 – Trust But Verify

Here’s a common scenario: You get a letter from the IRS or from a state tax audit agency. It starts out with something like: “Dear Mr. Jones, Your company has been selected for an employment tax audit…” Sometimes, you just receive a phone call, seemingly without warning. Maybe a letter was sent and it was [...]

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