An IRS audit attorney changes the audit before it changes you: with a power of attorney on file (Form 2848), the IRS talks to your lawyer — not you — and every document, interview, and deadline runs through counsel. That matters because audits are won on scope and process: what years are open, what gets produced, what the auditor never gets a reason to ask about. Brotman Law has represented 400+ clients in audits and eliminated over $100 million in penalties — and we’ll tell you in 15 minutes, free, whether your audit actually needs an attorney at all.

What IRS Audit Defense Is

IRS audit defense is legal representation during an IRS examination of your tax returns. The IRS audits returns to verify that the income, deductions, and credits you reported are accurate. When you have an attorney representing you, all IRS contact flows through counsel. You do not speak to the revenue agent directly. Your attorney controls what information gets produced and how.

The short version is this: most audits are winnable at the examination level, before you ever reach Appeals or Tax Court. The outcome depends on how your responses are structured, what documents are produced, and whether your attorney understands how the IRS builds an adjustment. We have been handling audits since 2013. We know how this works.

If you have received an IRS notice or audit letter — a CP2000, a Letter 2205-A, or a notice that a revenue agent has been assigned — the first step is to get a Power of Attorney on file so that the IRS talks to us, not you.

Types of IRS Audits Brotman Law Handles

The type of audit you are in matters. Each has different stakes, different procedures, and a different strategy.

Correspondence Audits

A correspondence audit is conducted entirely by mail. The IRS sends a notice — often a CP2000 (proposed changes based on information returns) or a CP2501 — and asks you to respond with documentation. These are typically automated: the IRS’s computer matched your return against third-party information (W-2s, 1099s, broker statements) and found a discrepancy.

They are the most common type of audit and also the most underestimated. Many taxpayers respond directly and agree to adjustments they do not legally owe. A CP2000 is a proposal, not a bill. You have the right to dispute it. We review the discrepancy, identify what the IRS is actually looking for, and respond with documentation and legal argument where appropriate.

Office Examinations

An office examination summons you to an IRS office to discuss one or two specific issues on your return — a business loss, a charitable contribution, a home office deduction. The IRS agent is examining a narrow set of items. With proper representation, the goal is to resolve those items at the lowest possible adjustment and close the case at the office level.

Field Examinations

A field examination is the most extensive type. An IRS revenue agent comes to your place of business and examines your books, records, and operations — often across multiple tax years and multiple issues simultaneously. Field exams are common for self-employed taxpayers, S-corporation owners, and businesses in cash-intensive industries.

The Information Document Request (IDR) process is where field exams are won or lost. The IDR is the IRS’s formal request for documents. We manage the IDR response: what to produce, in what format, and how to present it so that the examination stays scoped. Volunteering information beyond what the IDR asks is one of the most common audit mistakes taxpayers make on their own.

Eggshell Audits

An eggshell audit is a civil examination where criminal exposure is already present. The revenue agent is conducting what looks like a routine audit, but the underlying facts — substantial unexplained income, records inconsistencies, two sets of books — already suggest potential fraud.

This is the most sensitive type of audit representation. The goal is to resolve the civil examination without generating a referral to IRS Criminal Investigation (CI). That requires understanding exactly what CI looks for as evidence of willfulness and structuring the audit response accordingly. A mistake here — the wrong document produced at the wrong time, the wrong explanation given directly to an agent — can convert a civil matter into a criminal one. We have handled eggshell audits extensively. This is not a situation for a CPA or a general practitioner.

See our criminal tax defense page for more on eggshell audits and what happens when a civil exam transitions to a criminal investigation.

Repetitive Audits

Under IRC § 7605(b), the IRS cannot conduct an unnecessary examination or investigation of a taxpayer. By IRS administrative policy, if you were audited on a particular issue in one of the two prior tax years and the examination produced no change, you can request that the IRS suspend the current audit of that same issue. This is called a repetitive audit claim. Most taxpayers do not know this protection exists. We assert it where it applies.