United States: If your claim is reviewed

An IRS examination has deadlines, and the letters that start and end it carry rights that lapse if you miss them. Before you reply to anything, read your engagement letter to see what help it provides, tell your adviser the same day, and take advice from someone who can see the letter and the return. This page describes the process in general terms from the IRS's own guidance; it is not a guide to handling an examination, and nothing here replaces advice on your own case.

If the IRS selects your return for examination, it notifies you by mail. Examinations are conducted either by post or through an in-person interview to review your records, and the IRS sends a written request for the specific documents it wants to see.1Source 1IRS, IRS audits (17 February 2026). The IRS guidance read for this page is not specific to the research credit. An examination that touches Form 6765 is an examination of the return like any other. Expect the technical and cost records behind the credit to be among the documents asked for.

The IRS tells you which records you will need.2Source 2IRS, Publication 556, Examination of Returns, Appeal Rights, and Claims for Refund (Rev. September 2013). For a research credit, expect that to mean the records behind Form 6765. They are the technical descriptions, who did the work and how their time was allocated, the cost workings and the ledgers they came from, and the engagement letter if the preparer's role is in question. The your responsibility page explains why the company holds these, and the ownership of records clause is where to look if the adviser holds some of them.

An examination ends in one of three ways: no change, an agreed change, or a proposed change you disagree with. If you agree, you sign an agreement form and pay any additional tax. If you do not, the examiner explains your appeal rights, and you receive the examination report with the proposed changes and a 30 day letter giving you the right to appeal within 30 days. If you do not respond, the IRS sends a 90 day letter, a notice of deficiency.1Source 1IRS, IRS audits (17 February 2026). 2Source 2IRS, Publication 556, Examination of Returns, Appeal Rights, and Claims for Refund (Rev. September 2013).

These are the routes the IRS describes; which one, and when, is for your adviser to say. You can ask for a conference with an IRS manager, consider mediation, or appeal to the IRS Independent Office of Appeals, which is separate from and independent of the office that took the action and is the only level of appeal within the IRS. A petition to the Tax Court must be filed within 90 days from the date the notice of deficiency is mailed; refund suits go to the Court of Federal Claims or a district court.1Source 1IRS, IRS audits (17 February 2026). 2Source 2IRS, Publication 556, Examination of Returns, Appeal Rights, and Claims for Refund (Rev. September 2013). Each of these has a deadline, and the choice between them is a matter for advice.

What your adviser must do depends on the engagement letter, which is why the review and audit support clause matters before you sign. In an examination, the useful things an adviser does are these.

• Produce the technical and cost records quickly and in order.
• Explain the technical case to the examiner, with the people who did the work.
• Correct any error in the claim before the IRS finds it.
• Tell you plainly what the proposed changes mean and what your options are.

A paid preparer who signed the return is identified on it by their PTIN.3Source 326 CFR 1.6109-2; 26 CFR 1.6695-1(b). The IRS can penalise a preparer for an understatement caused by an unreasonable position or wilful conduct,4Source 4IRS, Tax preparer penalties (21 September 2026), 26 U.S.C. 6694 and 6701. but those penalties are the preparer's and do not pay your tax. If the adviser's help is charged by the hour, agree an estimate and a ceiling before the work starts. The companies under review page and the claim reduced on review page cover the fee side.

• Your responsibility and complaints about an adviser in the United States
• How do you handle a tax authority review? and is review support included?
• Getting independent advice

Sources

1. IRS, IRS audits (17 February 2026).    Back
2. IRS, Publication 556, Examination of Returns, Appeal Rights, and Claims for Refund (Rev. September 2013).    Back
3. 26 CFR 1.6109-2; 26 CFR 1.6695-1(b).  Back
4. IRS, Tax preparer penalties (21 September 2026), 26 U.S.C. 6694 and 6701.  Back