An audit is an IRS examination process used to review a return, records, or reported tax items more closely after filing.
An audit is an IRS examination process used to review a return, records, or reported tax items more closely after filing. In plain language, it is the stage where the IRS is no longer just sending a routine notice or processing update, but is examining part of the taxpayer’s reporting in more detail.
An audit matters because many taxpayers use the word for almost any IRS contact, which blurs several very different stages of post-filing workflow. A routine IRS Notice, a mismatch communication like a CP2000 Notice, and an audit are related ideas, but they are not the same thing.
It also matters because the term changes how taxpayers think about recordkeeping. Once an audit is possible, the importance of return support, transcripts, and source records becomes more concrete.
An audit appears after the Tax Return has been filed and the IRS decides that some part of the return deserves closer review. It often connects back to tax records, Tax Transcript review, possible notices, and any later dispute or relief options that depend on the facts.
A taxpayer files a return and later learns that the IRS wants supporting records for some reported item. The taxpayer now has to move from ordinary filing mode into an audit-response mode, where records and explanations matter more directly.
An audit is not automatically the same thing as a CP2000 Notice. CP2000 commonly signals a mismatch review path, while an audit is a broader examination concept.
It is also different from a penalty itself. An audit is a review process. Penalties may or may not become part of the outcome later.