text: It is essential for taxpayers to prepare for an audit. While some taxpayers seem to believe that disorganized books and records will cause the IRS, California FTB, Employment Development Division or other tax agency to throw up their hands and give up on the audit, nothing could be further from the truth. IRS and other auditors are highly trained and familiar with methods to make life difficult for taxpayers who do not comply. Generally, insufficient or nonexistent records open the door to potentially catastrophic determinations by the IRS.
  For individual filers with insufficient or unreliable records, it is not uncommon for the IRS to draw unfavorable conclusions against the taxpayer and simply assert a large tax liability. This shifts the burden of proof onto the taxpayer. Now, the taxpayer must piece together documents and records to disprove the IRS’s claims. Needless to say, this is labor intensive and frequently requires the services of a consulting forensic accountant.