Audited

Nod and I have had a husband-wife photography-art business partnership for almost 20 years. Every year, Nod worries over the tax forms, the rules, what to do and what not to do. He's a bear every year about it (this year he has made a den in the basement for himself).

Well, the dreaded IRS notice of an Audit came yesterday. Nod freaked. They said that we owed $800.00 ~ which we don't just have laying around, of course. So he went over the letter again, which was for 2004, and over our tax forms for that year. He called the IRS and spoke at length with an agent. The agent agreed that we did file correctly and should not have to pay that $800. He instructed Nod what to do in reply and ended the call with a laugh: "You need to educate those agents!"

Nod felt better about having done it correctly, was annoyed that our forms were not really looked at to start with, wished that he really could "educate" those agents but knows that we can't afford to tick off any of them.

The bother now is that this year's forms are just now ready to be mailed in, and it's the same bunch of forms as in 2004. Nod is now wondering if he should hold off mailing them in until we know for sure that the audit is going to be deemed incorrect.

argh