Receiving a notice from the IRS that you've been selected for an audit is unsettling, but it doesn't have to be. An audit is not an accusation of wrongdoing. In most cases, it's simply the IRS requesting documentation to verify information on your return. How you respond, what you bring, and whether you have professional representation can make a significant difference in the outcome.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in April 2019 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

No one wants to be audited by the IRS. And while there is no guaranteed way to avoid an audit, there are actions you can take in preparing your taxes to help minimize your chances of being selected for audit.

So you're getting audited.  You're not alone. According to USA Today, roughly 2 in every 1,000 tax returns of middle-income Americans was flagged for audit in the last fiscal year (2022). Hiring representation is a smart next step.

In 2019, the IRS received around 155 million individual tax returns. About 771,095 taxpayers got pegged for audit. While that shows slightly less than half a percent of a chance to be audited, it isn’t zero.

No one is excited about being audited by the IRS. Even though the IRS has been slammed like everyone else, there is still a chance your return will get flagged for an audit.

Nobody looks forward to receiving a notice from the IRS, especially one that says audit. However, of the three types of audits the agency performs, there is one you can almost be happy about — a correspondence audit.

Telling people not to panic at the threat of an IRS audit is like telling a Kardashian to avoid self-promotion. It’s an impossible dream. Now the powers-that-be are saying the chances of an audit (even though they’re already pretty small) may increase in 2020.

IRS audits are the worst, aren’t they? So, it pays to avoid them if at all possible. The best advice is to be entirely and totally honesty on your tax returns. Otherwise, if you follow these 10 tips, you could keep the IRS from knocking on your door in the near future.

Every so often, the IRS itself is audited to make sure it’s following all the rules, regulations, and laws effectively and efficiently. Most businesses should do something similar to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. But when it’s the IRS, the results of resolving an audit issue can have ripple effects.