Audited taxpayers hold a longer list of rights than most ever learn, and the IRS is not in the business of volunteering them. This lesson is the complete list, in the order you are likely to need each one.
The Rights at the Start
You have the right to know why your return was selected in general terms, what the audit covers - the years and issues in the opening letter define its scope - and what the process will look like. You have the right to reasonable scheduling: audits get postponed and relocated for legitimate reasons routinely, and an early, specific extension request is a normal exercise of the right, not a red flag. And from the first moment, you hold the foundational one: the right to representation, exercised by filing a power of attorney, after which the IRS deals with your representative and any interview stops until counsel is present.
The Rights During
You are never required to guess: 'I will check and respond' is a complete, lawful answer to any question, and accuracy beats speed every time. You may provide copies rather than original documents - and should. The examination is limited to its stated scope, and expansions can be questioned and challenged. You may record an in-person interview with advance written notice. And where records were lost or destroyed, the law accepts reasonable reconstruction - bank records, vendor statements, calendars - rather than simply forfeiting every deduction.
The Rights at the End
The examination report is a proposal you are not required to sign. Disagreement on time triggers the ladder: a conference with the examiner's manager, the 30-day letter to the Independent Office of Appeals - where results change regularly under the hazards-of-litigation standard - and the 90-day Notice of Deficiency opening the United States Tax Court, the one deadline in the sequence with no mercy whatsoever. Every rung exists only for taxpayers who protected each deadline on the way down. If an audit letter is in your hands, your rights are strongest right now, before the first response. The free consultation covers exactly how to use them.