If a mistake has been made on my taxes how long after filing will i be notified?

[15slangle]

This is the first time i have filed my own taxes and i have checked my answers a bunch but im paranoid of making a mistake. I don't want to be fined or audited. How long after I file would i be notified of a mistake by the IRS?

[DexterS · Accepted solution]

It could be several months, or even years before you would be notified of errors.

If you're sure you entered everything accurately from the documents you received you should be fine.

There won't be any math errors like there were when we prepared all the returns by hand.

Where you could run into a problem is if you didn't include something.

Payers send copies of all the "action documents", W-2s, 1099s, etc. to the IRS.  They match those up with your tax return.  If the numbers don't agree, or something got lost in the mail and you forgot about it you'll get a notice from the IRS identifying the problem.

If you agree that you entered something incorrectly, or forgot to include something, then there are instructions in the letter about paying what you owe.  If you disagree, you may need a tax professional to help you straighten it out.

The two defenses of filing an inaccurate tax return are:

1.  Know what you financial life looks like.  Where have you worked?  Where is you money invested?  If you don't get the documents you need to file your return - call them.  Things get lost.
2.  Be diligent when you input your information.  TurboTax can only work with what you give it.  Accuracy is key.

If you've been careful you should be just fine.