There are two types of audits that the Internal Revenue Service conducts with regard to businesses. The first type, known as a correspondence audit, is conducted via postal mail. The IRS uses these audits to request and review addition information about income and expenses or the deductions taken on a return.
More in-depth audits are conducted in person. The IRS prefers to schedule these audits at a company’s office or place of business. This is because the books and other records associated with the return are assumed to be located at the place of business. Business owners can request that the venue for the audit be changed, but the IRS notes that requests may not be honored.
One reason you might want a change in venue is because your books are not located at the business office. Perhaps books are kept by a third-party professional, such as an accountant, or you keep books in your home office. The business may have moved since the last tax filing, which would obviously make it difficult for the IRS to conduct at audit at the previous location.
In some cases, it may simply seem more advantageous for you to bring information to a local IRS field office for an audit. The IRS is probably not going to request a location change simply because you believe it is an advantage, though. In rare cases, you may want to request that the IRS conduct a local audit because the information they requested via mail is simply too much of a burden to copy and mail.
When dealing with either a mail or face-to-face IRS audit, it can help to have some extra tools in your corner. In depth understanding of tax law and experience negotiating with the IRS are two things that can be very helpful in an audit situation.
Source: Internal Revenue Service, “IRS Audit Facts,” accessed May. 28, 2015