IRS asking requires my Y2005 business expenses to be justified.
Hi all,
I need help regarding the below issue.
My tax home is located in FL while I was travelling to VA and LA working for various telecom clients. My salary for Y2005 was $114K. I expensed ~$17K out of this as part of business expenses since my employer does not provide me with any accountable per diem plan. The expense included lodging/meals/flight/gasoline/phone etc.
My CPA made a mistake (I am part responsible too) by putting round figures in my 2106 form which indicates all my expenses claimed for that year. This raised a red flag and now the is IRS is coming back and asking for more clarifications eg: receipt copy for all expenses > $75, lodging receipts, copies of logs/diaries/notes maintained to prove that the business expenses were made as part of a legit business reason and it is both necessary and ordinary to the pursuit of my business.
I have lost all my receipts due to fire and all I got is the credit card statement and few online logs which confirms my business trips.
Please suggest what is the best way to approach/reply this. I am changing my CPA to get a different view but thought of checking with you all about this issue.
Your help and comments will be appreciated!
Regards
--Mike