Illinois State Audits Archives

If I Get Audited What Is the Likelihood That I Am Going to Get Audited Again?

May 25, 2026July 17, 2020 by Brotman Law

Key Takeaways

Topic: If I Get Audited What Is the Likelihood That I Am Going to Get Audited Again?
Read the full article below for complete details on this topic.

If I Get Audited What Is the Likelihood That I Am Going to Get Audited Again? So the first thing it depends on is what are you being audited for are you being audited for a one-off mistake are you being audited for a serious underreporting of income or an overstatement in actions what’s the issue and then based on how the audit goes what’s the correction is it a substantial correction as an a minimal correction are you getting penalized with your fraud issues involved audits are meant as a check so again the IRS is verifying that the story you’re telling the government is an accurate story if there’s reason for the government to believe that that story may continue in the future then you’ll probably pop back up on the IRS as radar again knows you have a history of non-compliance if you’re under reporting cash or something like that the IRS will probably take a look at the return understand that the IRS operates based largely on statistics so when they look at returns and when they look at taxpayers on whether they’re gonna get audited they’ll compare the return that was audited the adjustment that was made and then they’ll compare a later year return and any any similar issues on that return to the first return decide whether or not they want to get a lot of it most taxpayers if you go through an audit you’ve pretty much learned your lesson and you never want to go through it again so whatever the errors are that happened the first time around the hope is that they’ll get corrected, but the audit the IRS does audit multiple years they can audit in the future and yes once you’re on the autumn list. They will protect they will pick up ears if they feel that there is the potential for a future adjustment so the best thing that you can do to protect yourself from being audited again is to learn from your mistakes the first time and to minimize those mistakes going for and in the future .

Have a Tax Question or Notice?

If you’re dealing with an IRS audit, collection action, California state tax matter, or any other tax issue, we can review your situation in a free 15-minute consultation.

Schedule a Free Call → Or call: (619) 378-3138

Should I Represent Myself in an IRS Audit?

May 25, 2026July 17, 2020 by Brotman Law

Well it depends, but not usually. First of all, the mistake that a lot of taxpayers make is they think that they can handle the audit because they think either a they’re smarter than the auditor or the errors on the return aren’t really that severe. The problem with that is a taxpayer who goes into a situation with an auditor, unless that taxpayer is a tax attorney or a CPA, is probably not going to have the same level of knowledge about how audits work as the auditor. So even if the taxpayer is familiar with the law, the taxpayer is generally not familiar with the way that audits work and the procedure with that and so the risk is that even if the tax loss is minimal, the taxpayer could potentially put themselves into a damaging situation. So for example, if you’re not really used to changing tires and you get a flat tire on the road, yes you could change the tire yourself. There is the possibility that you’ll do a reasonably good job and change the tire and then everything will be okay, but there’s also the possibility that you might make a mistake. If you believe that there is a mistake on your return and if that mistake is significant, meaning it’s over five thousand dollars in tax back to the government, then you may want to consider hiring a representative to help you because once you get into a situation where there’s an audit and their adjustments are being made, then the penalty conversation comes into play and so the more adjustments that are made on the return, the more it increases

Key Takeaways

Well it depends, but not usually. First of all, the mistake that a lot of taxpayers make is they think that they can handle the audit because they think either a they’re smarter than the auditor or the errors on the return aren’t really that severe.
the likelihood that the auditor is going to penalize the taxpayer.

Should I Hire the CPA Who Prepared My Tax Return to Represent Me in an Audit?

May 25, 2026July 17, 2020 by Brotman Law

So your CPA maybe the best CPA in the world and this conversation is not to suggest it anything negative about CPAs whom we work with all the time, who are a huge asset to our practice and I don’t think any of the CPAs that we work with would have any problem with me saying this. The CPAs generally are not good in audits and they’re not good because they don’t do a lot of audits. From a CPA perspective, a CPA is compliance based. CPAs are focused most of the time on preparing returns and preparing them accurately. They have a whole living based on being a CPA which is a certified public accountant. A certified public accountant is an individual who is certified to prepare financial statements so the reality of the situation is when a CPA is charged with compliance, and if there is any doubt as to that compliance meaning, there are errors on the tax return the CPA prepared, then there’s a natural conflict of interest because either

Key Takeaways

The CPAs generally are not good in audits and they’re not good because they don’t do a lot of audits.
From a CPA perspective, a CPA is compliance based.
CPAs are focused most of the time on preparing returns and preparing them accurately.

If I Amend My Taxes Am I More Likely to Get Audited?

May 25, 2026July 17, 2020 by Brotman Law

Filing an amended return does not automatically trigger an audit. The IRS does not have a policy of opening examinations because a taxpayer corrected their return. But an amended return draws additional review, and there are situations where it creates more risk than it resolves.

The amended return process involves Form 1040-X, which the IRS processes manually. An examiner at the service center reviews it to verify that the change is mathematically consistent and that any refund claim is facially valid. That review is not an audit. In most cases the IRS accepts the amendment, processes the change, and the return goes into the normal audit selection pool.

Where it gets more complicated: if your original return was already under examination when you file the amendment, the IRS can incorporate the 1040-X into the open audit. Auditors are allowed to expand the scope of an exam to include any issue raised by the amended return. If you are amending to claim a large deduction that was not on the original return, and the IRS already has questions about your Schedule C, the amendment could invite scrutiny you would have avoided by leaving the return alone. This is the scenario where the decision to amend needs to be made carefully.

On the other side: there are situations where not amending is riskier than amending. If you omitted income, claimed a credit you did not qualify for, or made a significant error in your favor, correcting the record proactively is usually the right move. The IRS’s automated matching system catches income mismatches routinely — if a 1099 was filed with the IRS and not reported on your return, getting ahead of it by amending is generally better than receiving a CP2000 notice and responding reactively.

The three-year statute of limitations for audits runs from the original due date or the date you filed, whichever is later. An amended return does not reset that statute in most cases. One exception: if the amended return claims a refund within 60 days before the statute expires, the IRS has 60 additional days to initiate an audit from that date.

If you are uncertain whether to amend, or if you already have an open exam, book a free 15-minute call or call (619) 378-3138.