Resources
What to do first, explained the way Linda would explain it in the room.
Practical guidance for Manteca and Central Valley taxpayers dealing with notices, audits, business records, and tax-season preparation. General information — not advice for your specific situation.
Checklists
Four situations, and the first sensible move in each.
If you received a notice
- Open it the day it arrives and write down the notice number.
- Note the tax year and any response deadline.
- Do not send payment or a written response before you understand the request.
- Gather prior correspondence from the same agency.
- Bring all of it to a case review.
If you are facing an audit
- Identify which years and which items are under examination.
- Do not volunteer documents outside the scope of the request.
- Locate the substantiation you already have before recreating anything.
- Arrange representation so the correspondence runs through your Enrolled Agent.
Preparing for tax season
- Income documents: W-2s, 1099s, K-1s, and business revenue summaries.
- Expense records and, for businesses, reconciled books for the full year.
- Prior-year return, and any IRS or state correspondence received during the year.
- Estimated payments made, with dates and amounts.
If the business is behind
- Establish which periods are unreconciled rather than guessing.
- Separate payroll tax issues — those move faster than income tax issues.
- Confirm which entity filings are outstanding.
- Plan the cleanup and the filings together, in that order.
Never email Social Security numbers, bank information, or full tax returns. Documents are collected through a secure, encrypted channel once your engagement begins.
Frequently asked