Owe the IRS money? No problem. Recently released IRS statistics for the first six months of fiscal 1999 indicate that IRS seizures of assets are down 98%. Focus by Congress on instances of extreme abuse by the collection division, together with the need for IRS executive management to reinvent the IRS, has resulted in enforcement measures not being pursued. This window of opportunity for delinquent taxpayers will probably not be around for much longer. Advantage:
Search warrants could become harder to obtain for IRS criminal Investigators. The report by the Webster Commission, formed to perform a review of the IRSs Criminal Investigation Division (CID),has recommended that CID must produce a thorough written evaluation as to why conducting a search is the least intrusive means necessary to obtain evidence. If this policy is implemented by the IRS, it will mean that special agents would have to exhaust all third-party record-keepers (banks, etc.) and other contacts before asking a judge for a search warrant to gain access to a home or business. Trap for taxpayers who have cheated on their returns: Leaving incriminating books and ledgers in their office.
Showing the IRS agent what you want him to see. The hardest part of winning a case with an IRS agent is when you (or your accountant) have to hand over documentation that clearly establishes that you did something wrong and the IRS is correct in asking for additional tax. Dont let this happen to you. First step: Carefully examine every document you provide to the IRS agent to make sure that it cannot be used to help them make a case against you. Next: If a particular invoice or other document is harmful, consider not providing the agent with a copy. The worst thing that can happen is that the agent may disallow a deduction. You can fight this in the IRS appeals division by suggesting a rationale for the position you took on your tax return.
From Iside Tax Tips by Ms. X. Esq.. who is a former IRS agent and still well connected.
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