My 2003 return is being audited. What a pain in the ass. Not really surprising though. In the dot-com days, I had some amazingly high tax returns due to stocks going through the roof. In 2002 and 2003, after the crash, I paid almost no taxes because I lived mostly off investment income and had plenty of stocks to sell at a loss to offset any gains. I did some consulting, but was also going to Stanford, and my consulting income was mostly tax free because you are allowed to deduct educational expenses in your field if you are self-employed.

Anyway, you can see how going from triple-digit incomes for a couple years to no income for a couple years might trigger an audit, although you'd think that situation would be somewhat common spanning the bubble. So I have to dig up documentation of the cost basis for the stocks and Stanford Ttuition receipts. Also for the taxes and mortgage interest we paid on the house, since its owned by multiple people, that info is not sent to the IRS under my SSN.

Sigh. If he comes here, like the last IRS agent[1], I'm definitely wearing Tovar. And I'm not going to shush him when he starts crying, either. Scream all you want, little guy, this person wants documentation to prove that his boss shouldn't steal any more money from daddy.

Any general advice, other than "Be honest and have good documentation"?

[1] I procrastinated '02 or '03 because I knew I'd have no income, so there wouldn't be penalties, and I hate doing taxes. Eventually, they sent someone by the house.