Survival

Well I survived my audit, although I don't think I came a way unscathed. My luck was holding and the examining agent that took my case happened to be a Real Estate Agent, who was continually comparing my expenses with her own.

Her first barrage was aimed at why I was spending more money that I was making. I showed her my depleted IRA and savings accounts, and the proceeds from the refinance of my home. That put that to rest.

The second barrage was aimed at my medical expenses. She asked how old I was and seemed surprised at the answer. Then she asked about my ailments (HBP, Diabetes, high Cholesterol, Glaucoma, etc.) That put to rest the numerous doctor visits and the high drug costs.

Pictures of my home office and the utility bills put the business use of home office to rest.

All this took time, because she was looking at things by category and all my records consist of bank and credit card statements. All my bills are paid electronically through the bank, or by direct debit from the credit card companies. No checks. When she wanted to see a particular transaction record (i.e. the check to the doctor for a specific visit) I had to look thorough the bank statements and credit card statements until I found the entry.

In one sense she got the very distinct understanding that I had records of everything, but not the way she wanted them. Sorry but that is the way it was.

In the end the only thing she found was that apparently I had deducted certain items twice, due to sloppy entry into TurboTax on my part. She disallowed them, and I couldn't really argue.

I will get her report later next week. I will probably owe something, but not much because I didn't make much.

I went to COSTCO for a few items on my way home from the office - I went in for eggs, English muffins and one or two other small items. I wound up spending close to $100. Actually I got off cheap. The people on line behind me had two of those hand trucks loaded with food, small appliances, TVs, etc. God only knows how much they spent.