Tips For Minnesotans To Avoid An IRS Audit

Tis the season! Tax season that is. The joys of showing the IRS the amount money that you’ve earned along with other earnings as well as donations and other contributions.  

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For some they’re trying to keep up with receipts and other paperwork to show the government all the documentation that is needed.  

And the above brief descriptions don’t even scratch the surface of all that is required of us this time of year. The hope is that you get money back, but as I heard someone say recently, “Sadly and Gladly, I didn’t make enough last year to owe any this year”.  

Staying off the radar of the IRS is something that we all try to do, and I came across an article from AARP recently that outline 5 things that would most likely cause “the fed’s” to call for an audit. 

The first is failing to report taxable income. If you have income for various sources, that source will likely report that they paid you money. If your reporting doesn’t match up, that could trigger something with the IRS. 

The second thing that you may be doing that you should stop is making mistakes in the math that you show on your forms. For many of us, math is not our friend, but for those in the IRS offices, they love numbers and are good at seeing where you didn’t carry a one to cause a total to go up. As my third-grade teacher used to say to me all the time, check your work. (And yes, I still have nightmares about my third-grade teacher). 

Another mistake that causes red flags to be sent up with the IRS is rounding or estimating amounts. If you say the amount should be $400 but it’s really $427, the number lovers I spoke of in the in the previous paragraph will spot that eventually and sound the alarm. 

Here’s one that I’m sure people have tried for years, and just like a parent becomes wise to their child’s ways of trying to fool them, the IRS has learned to spot when you say you qualify for tax credits you don’t really qualify for. The Bible says in John Chapter 8, Verse 32, And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.  

The bottom line here is that being honest may cause you to pay more but could keep you from being audited.  

Finally, if you don’t report crypto currency transactions, this could cause the peering eyes of the government to look a lot closer at you. 

Most people don’t enjoy doing their taxes, but abiding by these steps could allow the process to move along instead of moving into an area that could take you a long time to get out of.