Letter of Thanks from Bethany Marcoe

Dear Tom,

My name is Bethany Marcoe. I run an In-home child care called Marcoe Polo’s Playhouse. Back in May, I receive a letter from the IRS stating they were going to audit me for my 2009 and 2010 taxes. The 1st thought through my head was no big I have done nothing wrong and I have nothing to hide. I got all my pertinent information together for my audit in June. I went in with great confidence and came out crushed.

The auditor was not going to allow me to claim the exclusive areas of my home that were specifically for child care, which I newly claimed in 2009-10 and I was going to owe the IRS close to 2,800 in back taxes. So I went to another provider that was audited before and she lent me Tom’s book Record-Keeping Guide. After reviewing that book I see where I had made mistakes in the calculations of my exclusive areas. I re-calculated the exclusive area and contacted the IRS auditor and explaining where I was wrong in my 2009-10 calculations. The auditor still would not allow for any exclusive areas, because I was a home and had no proof it was not in use after hours. I was beside myself not knowing what to do because the books told me one thing and the auditor another.

My friend told me to call Tom, so I did. Tom told me I was in the right to claim exclusive areas and gave me the IRS documentation that states home providers are allowed exclusive areas. Tom also wrote a letter in my behalf to the auditor quoting IRS documents that allows for exclusive areas. I sent the letter and corrected exclusive space area to the auditor and she in return stated that I was still wrong in my calculations.

I once again called Tom for help. He emailed me more information on how the IRS states to add the percentages of the exclusive and shared areas from their own 8829 form. I called the auditor with this information on 8829 form calculations. She did not admit to being wrong but stated she would need to go back to 2009-10 8829 form instructions to make sure they had the same information.

A week later the auditor sent me a letter and an adjusted correction on her findings for 2009-10 taxes the amount went from owing 2,800 to 1,105. This was a huge relief to have our amount reduced more than half. I credit Tom for this, for because without his help I would be left with 2,800 in back taxes and confused about reading/told one thing and being told another by the IRS.

I don’t think I could thank Tom enough for giving me the necessary information and encouragement to fight the IRS.  Armed with this information from Tom I was able to show the IRS though my original calculations may have been wrong, I was still in the right to claim those areas and I won. 

Thanks for everything, Bethany Marcoe