First off, you are going to need specific tax return data. Most likely, you are going to need to submit the previous year’s tax return information in addition to the current year. Yes, the IRS has them, but they want you to bring them in as well because the IRS will be looking for a point of comparison. You may also be asked to bring in returns for other businesses that you are an operator of. This requires a lot of tax return information, so be sure to save your tax data. Don’t just throw it away; archive it, save it digitally, save it in hard copies, whatever you need to do.

Then, the auditor is going to ask about the reliability of taxpayer’s information. If you have unexplained gaps in your records, the IRS will want to understand why your records are incomplete. They usually assume the worst, right? So, to be prepared, be able to justify what’s missing and why, and how to back up your receipts. If there are gaps in the documentation, have a reason to explain why that is. After this, there’s this thing called the minimum income probe. This tool is usually used to identify deposits that may be taxable income or sources of taxable income, not otherwise disclosed by the taxpayer. They start seeing the positives come into your accounts and you’re not claiming this as income. What is going on? They’re going to look at that. They’re going to ask what this is and ask you to explain it. They’re also going to ask for your cash accounting methodology, which may include things for inventory items and the way that the employees handle these transactions.

For records of transactions and accounts, identify cash deposit locations and procedures for cash deposits and any other cash handling procedures. What’s happening in your store? Who is depositing the money into the safe and who is going through the safe log? Is there a division of duties to prevent theft and diversion? They’re going to ask you for all your bank account information and other personal financial information as well. Auditors can open the scope up and state that cannabis regulators are permitted to ask for a range of records to inspect. They can inspect anything in your physical location. The cannabis regulatory authorities can pretty much ask you to turn over anything and everything. Even the IRS agents, as federal agents, will pull all the strings they need to get the information that they desire.

Focus on gathering the documents by the deadline that they’ve set for you and be a good partner in your IRS audit. Always be operating in good faith.