Individuals who receive a letter from the IRS usually stop whatever they are doing to scrutinize that particular piece of mail. The IRS routinely sends out various types of letters, many of which simply provide helpful advice about a possible unclaimed benefit. Other letters, however, are audit notices that demand certain actions within a specified time frame in order to avoid an additional tax assessment.

Correspondence audits conducted entirely through the mail typically request some form of documentation to support claims made on a tax return. For example, the CP75A Notice requests proof of your eligibility to claim one or more specific persons as tax dependents. At first glance, the process of obtaining the requested documents may seem like a daunting task. However, a parent or guardian has a legitimate reason to ask third parties to help provide the information.

Determining period of residency

The CP75A Notice may request proof that a dependent lived with you, If so, the letter will likely mention that a qualifying child has to live with you for more than one-half of the tax year. For tax purposes, more than one-half of the year is essentially the one-half portion plus one day. Whether you are obtaining records to vouch for a full year or just a portion of a year, you may need to make several phone calls or visits to various record providers.

School records

An obvious method to confirm the residency of a dependent child is to obtain school records that show your own address. After passing any security precautions in place, a parent or guardian may have access to records that include a mailing address. If official records cannot be made available, the IRS provides a school template that can be provided to a school so that officials there can fill in the requested address information.

Healthcare records

You might already possess some of your dependent's healthcare records that include both a date of medical care and a mailing address. Due to privacy concerns, personnel in medical offices may be reluctant to provide copies of their own records. If so, the IRS has a separate healthcare template that can be used for medical providers.

Childcare records

Providers of childcare are likely to be fairly cooperative in checking their activity records and preparing a letter showing their client's address. In fact, you might already have the necessary information on the annual form provided to clients so that each client may claim the childcare tax credit.

A tax filer who claims a dependent child is often eligible for related tax credits. If a tax audit ends with an unfavorable outcome, it can result in an outstanding balance due. For that reason, many individuals rely on a tax service for advice during and after the audit process.

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