IRS agents are being instructed to obtain a copy of the taxpayer’s data base for examinations for any taxpayer who uses QuickBooks. This will not be done in all examinations, only for those that the IRS agent deems necessary based on the judgment of the agent. If the taxpayer refuses to provide the database and the revenue agent (RA) or manager determines it is necessary, a Summons to obtain the information would be issued. The agents would look at only the information for the year under audit unless they decided to expand the examination to prior years, then information for those years would be reviewed.

The IRS has purchased 1,500 to 2,000 licenses from Intuit and will have one agent trained and licensed per group to assist others in the examination of taxpayers who use QuickBooks. You may not have heard of this yet, but as the software finds its way into RA groups and more agents are trained in its use, we could definitely be seeing a trend in the way exams are conducted since so many small businesses use QuickBooks.

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