A tax audit is a procedure where the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) examines an individual’s or business’s financial records to ensure accuracy in the filed tax return. If the IRS finds errors or intentional misreporting, the taxpayer must pay the recalculated return amount and any interest penalties. Although most taxpayers do not get audited, the taxpayers that do get selected by the IRS should be aware of how to handle the process. This article is the first in a two-part series intended to provide guidance and outline the steps of the tax litigation process to tax lawyers and their clients from a tax lawyer with extensive experience in all stages of a tax audit.