Audit Reconsideration

The typical case is a taxpayer who moved, never received the correspondence, and discovered the problem when a refund was taken or a levy arrived. It also covers audits where documents were submitted and not considered, and assessments the IRS made from a substitute return it prepared itself.

The request needs to bring something new. Disagreeing with a conclusion the IRS already reached on evidence it already saw is not usually enough. Documentation that was never in front of the examiner is what moves it.

A successful reconsideration reduces or removes the assessment, and the penalties and interest calculated on it fall away with it. Collection can often be held while the request is under review, though that is not automatic and is worth requesting explicitly.

There are limits. Reconsideration generally is not available where the balance has already been paid, where a court has ruled on the matter, or where you signed an agreement closing the issue. Which of those applies to you is worth establishing before the work begins.