I will be trying to get a TS/SCI in a few months and am making sure I have all my things in order when it comes time for the investigation. After looking at my tax returns, I saw that I did not have a self employment activity filed under my 2018 return. I amended my 2018 Federal and state returns to show that activity. It ended up being a loss of money. I also saw I had messed up my 1099 and showed a capital loss of (3000) instead of (2500). I corrected all these, sent a check in to the IRS with the amended return and did the same for my respective state.
Additionally, I went and paid any Sales tax I owed to my state from the revenue from the self employed activity.
Everything is now paid, filed, and accurately reported. Should I answer âyesâ to any part of Section 26? Am I correct in that they donât have access to my tax returns unless they specifically come to me and ask me to sign a release for specific years returns? Or am I wrong in thinking that, and they will have these returns no matter what? Thanks
The question is âhave you ever failed to file or pay taxes when required by law?â Based on your post, the answer is yes. The choice on how to answer the question is entirely up to you, but you are swearing that your answers are true and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief. During an investigation, you never know where information will come from, so you can never be 100% that omitted information will not be discovered.
Scenario 1 - you made a mistake, took responsibility for it, and was honest and transparent about your actions.
Scenario 2 - you made a mistake, took responsibility for it, and was deceitful and lied about your actions.
In your opinion, if Iâm honest, will I be prompted to sign the papers to release those returns?
The part about that Section that kinda is tricky, at least in my mind, is it asks how much you owe. I donât owe anything. So it makes me think I would answer no to the initial question. But if youâre an investigator you certainly know this better.
From what you wrote, you filed your taxes when required by law but due to an error or oversight, you failed to pay the taxes owed. As soon as you realized your mistake, you took corrective action and didnât wait for the IRS to come and get you.
This is exceedingly common and shouldnât present a problem as is actually shows your responsibility for your actions.
Through my fathers business, I prepare anywhere up to 250 individual tax returns a year. The laws are very complicated and everyone realizes this. I keep this tax preparer position on my IT resume because, when you tell people that you prepare tax returns, itâs like telling them that you do magic or perform miracles.
Itâs not likely to hurt you that you made, and corrected, an error on your taxes. The government isnât looking for people who are perfect. They are looking for people who are honest.
I was waiting for you to comment because I knew you were big in taxes lol. I appreciate your input. I think I will say No initially, but in the interview explain what happened clearly.
I plan on also taking a Tax Prep Course that will give a Certificate of Completion as well as just hiring a firm to take care of my taxes, for good measure. I hope the investigators see that as large mitigating factors.