Request for audit reconsideration.

• Author: Marchbein, Joe

Sec. 6404(a) allows the IRS to abate any assessment of tax and applicable interest and/or penalties if the assessment is excessive, erroneously or illegally made, or made after the statute of limitation has expired. If an erroneous assessment has been made and a taxpayer has not paid it, under certain circumstances the IRS may accept a request for audit reconsideration.

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Reasons for Reconsideration

Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) Section 4.13.1 (available at www.irs.gov) describes the internal procedures the IRS must follow when evaluating a reconsideration request. Additional guidance is found in IRS Publication 3598, What You Should Know About the Audit Reconsideration Process (2007).

Some acceptable reasons for reconsideration, as found in the IRM, include:

* The taxpayer did not appear for an audit;

* The taxpayer moved and did not receive the correspondence from the IRS;

* The taxpayer submitted a document or documents that were not considered; or

* The taxpayer has new documentation to present.

The IRS will accept a request to reevaluate the results of a prior audit where:

* It assessed additional tax that remains unpaid or it reversed a tax credit;

* The taxpayer requests the abatement of an assessment based on information that was not previously considered that, if considered, would have resulted in a change to the assessment;

* The IRS created a return under Sec. 6020(b) where a taxpayer did not file a tax return, if the taxpayer later files a return that shows the correct tax; or

* There was an IRS computational or processing error in assessing the tax.

Note: If a taxpayer has paid the assessment and believes the assessment was in error, the taxpayer cannot file a reconsideration request but may instead file a claim for refund.

The IRS will not give reconsideration if a taxpayer signed a document such as a closing agreement entered into under Sec. 7121; if it made the assessment as a result of a compromise under Sec. 7122; if the assessed tax is due as a result of a final partnership item adjustment under the Tax Equity Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982; if it made the assessment as a result of the taxpayer's entering into an agreement on Form 870-AD, Offer of Waiver of Restrictions on Assessment and Collection of Deficiency in Tax; or if the Tax Court, or another court, issued a final determination as to the tax liability.

Information to Be Submitted

The taxpayer should send a written reconsideration request...