Read the full transcript: Can you actually call "timeout" during an IRS interview? Yes.
[00:00] She was raising items that were outside the scope of the tax return, and advising the examiner of things she hadn’t been asked about. I think it was with respect to a business venture that was outside of the personal exam.
[00:13] So I called a timeout. I said, “Timeout — I’m going to have a conversation with my client.” We went out into the hallway, talked it through, and came back in.
[00:22] At that point, I turned to the examiner and said, “This examination is focusing solely on my client as an individual. Her response with respect to the business should be kept outside the scope of the audit.” And we were able to close the audit without having the IRS go and look at that business.
[00:39] That’s the reason I prefer, if at all possible, not to have a taxpayer front-face with the IRS. I’ll do whatever I can to avoid that interview. And it’s why I will always be present when the IRS is interviewing one of my clients.
A single answer can reopen a closed door
An IRS examiner can learn more from a nervous taxpayer in ten minutes than from a year of document requests.
That is the risk at the center of this clip. During an interview, a client started answering questions that were never asked and volunteering details about a business venture that had nothing to do with the personal audit on the table. Left alone, that one thread could have pulled a separate business into the examination.
Michael Raff called a timeout, stepped into the hallway with his client, and reset the conversation. When they came back, he drew a clear line for the examiner: this audit concerns the individual, and the business is outside its scope. The audit closed without the IRS ever turning toward that second venture.
Why oversharing is the real danger in an IRS interview
The initial interview is not a formality.
Examiners arrive at an interview with a list of target areas to focus on, plus a set of open-ended questions built to surface anything else worth pursuing. A taxpayer sitting across from the IRS loses the filter that protects them, answering past the question, explaining what the record never asked for, and opening doors that were never on the agenda.
None of it has to be dishonest to cause damage. A truthful but unguarded answer can hand an examiner a brand-new line of inquiry.
How the firm keeps the audit where it belongs
The goal is straightforward: limit a client’s direct contact with the IRS as far as the situation allows.
Where an interview can be avoided, the firm becomes the point of contact. Where it can’t, as in many business audits, the firm runs a mock interview first, putting the client through the same probing questions the examiner will ask and coaching answers that stay accurate, complete, and contained.
In the room, representation is what makes the timeout possible. Being present means objecting to questions that fall outside the scope of the audit, and keeping a personal matter from quietly becoming a business one.
Facing an IRS audit?
If an audit letter has arrived or you’re already mid-examination and worried about something you may have said, the moment to bring in a tax attorney is before the next conversation with the IRS, not after. Reach out to the Law Offices of Michael Raff today. Let’s discuss your situation, outline your options, and build a solid defense.
