How to Handle Business Tax Return and Account Problems

Business tax return and account problems, at a glance:

• The IRS sends over 200 million notices each year. Many are caused by tax return and account problems.
• Many of these discrepancies result in IRS notices about additional taxes owed. It’s important to quickly work with the IRS to clear up any issues.
• Some business tax return errors or tax account disagreements don’t have appeal rights. It may be necessary to get the Taxpayer Advocate involved to work through complicated issues.

You can get expert help with your tax return or account problem.

What you need to know about business tax return and account problems

Sometimes, the information you use to file a business tax return or pay your taxes doesn’t agree with information the IRS has. The IRS may ask for more information to process your business tax return, or the IRS may make changes to your return. To clear up the confusion, you’ll need to find out what’s causing the discrepancy with the IRS.

Most of the time, you’ll just have one issue – like missing information or forms on your business return. Things may get more complicated if you’ve had a past audit, owe taxes, or have been the victim of tax identity theft. Unfortunately, the latest notice you got from the IRS may not give you a full picture of what’s going on.

You or your tax professional will need to look into the situation more to get a clear picture and identify all your options to solve the business account problem.

How to address your business tax return or account problem

1. Fully understand your situation.

• Review your IRS business account information, including notices, tax returns, and other documents that are relevant to the issue.
• Understand exactly what the IRS is saying about the issue. This may require calling the IRS. Start with the phone number listed on your last notice. Understanding the IRS perspective on your issue is easier if you know “IRS speak” – that is, how the IRS explains the details of your tax account. A tax professional can help you navigate this step. Tax pros also have a special IRS hotline they can use to help with taxpayer-account issues.
• You may need to request your IRS transcripts to match up against your transactions. Remember that IRS transcripts don’t show all the activity on your business account. Also, interpreting transcripts can be difficult, so you may want to consult a tax expert.

2. Define what issues need to be addressed, if any.

• After you have all the facts, identify the tax issue you need to address. The issue could be tax identity theft or a misapplied payment to another year or taxpayer.
• If there are immediate deadlines, call the IRS to ask for more time to clear up the discrepancy.

3. Understand your options and create a plan to resolve the issue.

• Research how to address your issue. It may be as simple as providing proof of an item on your business return, filing an additional form, or sending proof of a transaction – such as a payment you made. If it’s more complicated, you may have several options, so it’s important to select the best one for your situation.
• Understand how each option works. For example, if the problem relates to an IRS business tax penalty, you could request first-time penalty abatement to get it removed – if your circumstances fit.
• If you have multiple issues, you may need to solve them in a particular order and with different IRS units.

4. Correct your discrepancy and any other underlying issues.

• Contact and/or respond to the IRS by any deadlines in the notice. If you miss deadlines, you could lose appeal rights. For example, if you don’t respond to a request for more information by the deadline, the IRS could automatically adjust your business return, and possibly send you a bill for additional taxes owed. Then, you’ll have an IRS collection problem, too.
• Address any underlying issues. If you have multiple issues or multiple tax years or periods involved, resolve each issue completely and confirm that the IRS has addressed all tax years/periods.
• The IRS may change your deadlines, so be prepared. If you need more time, ask the IRS before the deadline expires.
• Two months after you resolve your issue, check back with the IRS to make sure that the IRS outcome is consistent with your expectations.
• Stay in compliance to avoid future issues. File and pay on time. If you get another notice, address it immediately.
• If all else fails, you can contact the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS). The TAS can cut through IRS red tape. If you qualify for TAS intervention, be prepared to explain the discrepancy clearly and the remedy you are requesting.

How to get expert help

Your H&R Block tax professional can help you investigate the cause of your IRS issue and communicate with the IRS.

Learn more about H&R Block’s Tax Audit & Tax Notice Services.

Bring these five items to your appointment

1. A copy of any notices related to your tax situation
2. A copy of your business tax return for the year(s) in question
3. Any account transcripts you’ve requested. If you don’t have your transcripts, your tax professional can get them for you.
4. A copy of any responses you’ve sent to the IRS
5. Any documents that you have to dispute the discrepancy