Specific Types of Representation · Representing a Taxpayer in Audits/Examinations
IRS authority to fix time and place of investigation
tax year · reviewed 2026-08-18 · I. Ohu
The IRS chooses when and where an examination happens. That is the rule, and it answers most questions in this topic. But the choice is bounded — by a statutory reasonableness standard, by a regulation setting out how the Service is to exercise it, and by a list of circumstances in which a taxpayer’s request to move the examination will “normally” be granted. The representative’s job is to know which side of that line a request falls on.
The rule
The statute. The time and place of an examination under IRC § 7602 “shall be such time and place as may be fixed by the Secretary and as are reasonable under the circumstances” (IRC § 7605(a)). Where a summons is issued, the appearance date is subject to a minimum notice period — see the figures table.
The standard the regulation applies. Officers and employees “are to endeavor to schedule a time and place that are reasonable under the circumstances,” balancing “convenience of the taxpayer with the requirements of sound and efficient tax administration” (Reg. § 301.7605-1(a)(1)). It does not apply to criminal investigations or to international examinations, save for the summons-notice rule (Reg. § 301.7605-1(a)(2)–(3)).
Time. It is reasonable to schedule an examination “during a normally scheduled workday … during the Service’s normal business hours,” and “throughout the year, without regard to seasonal fluctuations in the businesses of particular taxpayers or their representatives” — though the Service “will work with taxpayers or their representatives to try to minimize any adverse effects” (Reg. § 301.7605-1(b)(1)).
Type — office or field. The Service decides, “based upon the complexity of the return” and which form is more conducive to effective and efficient tax administration (Reg. § 301.7605-1(c)(1)). An office examination moves out of a Service office “in a case of clear need” — advanced age or infirm physical condition, or records “too cumbersome for the taxpayer to bring” (Reg. § 301.7605-1(c)(2)).
Place. The initial determination is generally made “based upon the address shown on the return for the period selected for examination” (Reg. § 301.7605-1(d)(1)).
- Office examinations are based on the residence of an individual or sole proprietor, and for an entity on where the original records are maintained. It “generally is not reasonable” to require attendance at an office other than the closest one in the assigned district, unless that office lacks an examination group or the appropriate personnel (Reg. § 301.7605-1(d)(2)).
- Field examinations take place “where the taxpayer’s original books, records, and source documents pertinent to the examination are maintained” — usually the principal place of business (Reg. § 301.7605-1(d)(3)(i)).
The small-business escape. If an examination is scheduled at the taxpayer’s place of business and the taxpayer represents to the Service in writing that conducting it there “would essentially require the business to close or would unduly disrupt business operations,” the Service, upon verification, will move it to a Service office in the district where the records are kept (Reg. § 301.7605-1(d)(3)(ii)).
Site visits are separate. “Regardless of where an examination takes place,” the Service may visit the business or residence to establish facts “that can only be established by direct visit, such as inventory or asset verification” (Reg. § 301.7605-1(d)(3)(iii)).
Transfer requests. Considered case by case on written request, against the factors in the figures table (Reg. § 301.7605-1(e)(1)). A transfer “will generally be granted” where the residence or record location is closer to a different office in the same district or lies in another district, and, for field examinations, where the taxpayer does not reside at the scheduled residence or the records are elsewhere (Reg. § 301.7605-1(e)(2)).
The representative’s convenience does not count. The location of the representative’s place of business “will generally not be considered in determining the place for an examination,” though the Service “in its sole discretion” may transfer there on the general factors (Reg. § 301.7605-1(e)(3)).
Three further limits. A transfer request made close to the end of a limitations period may be conditioned on a written extension — see the figures table (Reg. § 301.7605-1(e)(4)). The Service need not transfer to an office without adequate resources (Reg. § 301.7605-1(e)(5)), may decline a location where “the possibility of physical danger may exist” (Reg. § 301.7605-1(f)), and may initiate a transfer itself (Reg. § 301.7605-1(g)).
One inspection per year. See the figures table (IRC § 7605(b)).
Current figures
| Item | Rule | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Summons appearance date | the date fixed for appearance must be no less than 10 days from the date of the summonsTY2026 | IRC § 7605(a); Reg. § 301.7605-1(b)(2) |
| Transfer-request factors | 6 — the taxpayer's current residence; current principal place of business; where the books, records and source documents are maintained; where the Service can examine most efficiently; the Service resources available at the requested location; and other factors showing undue inconvenienceTY2026 | Reg. § 301.7605-1(e)(1) |
| Transfer near the limitations date | where a limitations period on assessment or collection will expire within 13 months of the request, the Service may condition an otherwise permissible transfer on a written extension of up to one yearTY2026 | Reg. § 301.7605-1(e)(4) |
| Repeat inspection | one inspection of a taxpayer's books of account per taxable year, unless the taxpayer requests otherwise or an authorized officer, after investigation, notifies the taxpayer in writing that an additional inspection is necessaryTY2026 | IRC § 7605(b); Reg. § 301.7605-1(h) |
How it works in practice
“Reasonable” is a standard, not a veto. The taxpayer does not choose the time or place; the Service does, subject to reasonableness. That framing decides most fact patterns. A taxpayer who says a date is inconvenient has not stated a ground; one who says the records are in another state has.
Records location is the organising fact. One idea runs through the regulation: examinations belong where the original books, records and source documents are. That is the default for a field examination, the basis for an entity office examination, a ground on which the Service “will agree” to transfer, and one of the six transfer factors. Argue a transfer from the records, not from convenience.
Seasonality is expressly not a ground. The Service may schedule “throughout the year, without regard to seasonal fluctuations in the businesses of particular taxpayers or their representatives.” A practitioner asking to defer a March examination because of filing season is asking for something the regulation has already declined as a matter of right. It may still be given as cooperation — the Service “will work with” taxpayers to minimise adverse effects — but it is a courtesy, not an entitlement.
The representative’s office is the wrong argument, twice over. It is expressly excluded from the place determination and is not on the transfer-factor list. The only route there is the Service’s discretion under paragraph (e)(3) — which means asking, with a reason grounded in the general factors, rather than asserting a right.
The small-business escape has three moving parts: a field examination scheduled at the place of business, a representation in writing that it would essentially close the business or unduly disrupt operations, and verification by the Service. It moves the examination to a Service office — not the representative’s office, and not the taxpayer’s home. Remembering only “you can get it moved if it disrupts the business” gets the destination wrong.
Ask early or pay for it. A transfer request made when a limitations period will expire within thirteen months can be conditioned on a written extension of up to a year. A transfer that costs a year of statute may be a bad trade; weigh it before filing.
A site visit is not the examination. Wherever the examination is conducted, the Service may still come to the premises to verify inventory or assets. Moving an examination to a Service office does not buy immunity from a visit.
Section 7605(b) is narrower than it sounds. One inspection of books of account per taxable year — but the taxpayer may consent to more, and the Service may do more after investigation and written notice. It restricts repetition, not thoroughness: a single examination that reviews the same records several times is not a second inspection.
The March request
A revenue agent schedules a field examination of a client's return for the second week of March. The enrolled agent asks that it be deferred to May because of filing season.
Analysis. There is no right to the deferral. Reg. § 301.7605-1(b)(1) makes it reasonable to schedule throughout the year "without regard to seasonal fluctuations in the businesses of particular taxpayers or their representatives" — representatives named expressly. The same paragraph says the Service will work with taxpayers to minimise adverse effects, so the request is worth making, framed as one for cooperation rather than an objection to an unreasonable time.
The three-chair office
A field examination is scheduled at a two-person bookkeeping practice in a small rented room. The owner says an agent working there for a week would make it impossible to see clients. The representative asks that it be moved to their own office, ten minutes away.
Analysis. The right ground, the wrong destination. Reg. § 301.7605-1(d)(3)(ii) requires a written representation that conducting the examination at the place of business would essentially close it or unduly disrupt operations; on verification the Service moves it to a Service office in the district where the records are kept. The representative's own office is a separate request under paragraph (e)(3), where that location "will generally not be considered" and any transfer is in the Service's sole discretion.
The transfer that cost a year
A client moved from one district to another eighteen months ago and the examination has been scheduled in the old district. In February the representative files a written transfer request. The assessment period for the year under examination expires the following January.
Analysis. The transfer should be granted — a current residence in a different district is one of the circumstances in which the Service normally agrees. But the limitations period expires within thirteen months of the request, so under Reg. § 301.7605-1(e)(4) the Service may require the taxpayer first to agree in writing to extend it for up to a year. That trade should have been weighed before filing, and the client told that the price of the move is a year of statute.
The second look
An examination of a corporation's 2024 return closed no-change in January. In August a revenue agent asks to inspect the same 2024 books of account again, over an issue raised by a related partnership examination.
Analysis. IRC § 7605(b) permits only one inspection of the books of account for each taxable year, subject to two exceptions: the taxpayer may request otherwise, or an authorized officer may, after investigation, notify the taxpayer in writing that an additional inspection is necessary. The question is not whether a second inspection is possible but whether that written notice has issued.
The Service fixes the time and place, not the taxpayer. The taxpayer’s lever is a written transfer request, judged against six factors — not a right to choose.
Seasonal inconvenience is expressly not a ground — and the regulation names representatives as well as taxpayers.
The representative’s office is generally not considered in fixing the place, and moving the examination there is in the Service’s sole discretion.
The small-business escape lands at a Service office, in the district where the records are kept — not at the taxpayer’s home and not at the representative’s office.
How this has changed
The regulation was rewritten in 1996, and that is the version in force. The current text implements the reasonableness standard in detail — the six transfer factors, the circumstances in which transfers are normally granted, the written small-business representation, the thirteen-month limitations condition. Material treating the place of examination as purely a matter of Service discretion describes the older regime.
The district vocabulary has not been updated. The regulation still speaks of “districts” and of “the Office of the Assistant Commissioner (International)” — units the IRS restructured out of existence after the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. Read “district” as the area served by the office to which the examination is assigned. The organisational references are three decades old; the standards are current.
The interview safeguards came from a different statute. The right to suspend an interview to consult a representative, and the representative’s right to appear alone, are in IRC § 7521 (1988) — not § 7605. Section 7605 governs when and where; § 7521 governs how the interview is conducted. Fact patterns mix them, and the answer usually turns on telling them apart.
Exam focus
Know that the IRS fixes the time and place, subject to reasonableness, and that the taxpayer’s remedy is a written transfer request.
Know that a field examination belongs where the original books, records and source documents are, and an office examination is based on the individual’s residence or the entity’s record location.
Know the small-business escape: a written representation that the examination would essentially close the business or unduly disrupt operations, verified by the Service, moves it to a Service office.
Know that the representative’s office is generally not considered, and that seasonal fluctuations — of taxpayer or representative — are expressly not a scheduling constraint.
Know the thirteen-month rule, and that only one inspection of books of account per taxable year is permitted absent the taxpayer’s request or written notice after investigation.
Check yourself
1. Where does a field examination generally take place? (A) At the closest IRS office (B) Where the taxpayer’s original books, records and source documents are maintained (C) At the representative’s office (D) At the address shown on the return, in all cases Answer: B. Usually the principal place of business, in the case of a sole proprietorship or entity.
2. A sole proprietor represents in writing that a field examination at her shop would essentially require it to close. Where will the Service move it? (A) To the taxpayer’s home (B) To the representative’s office (C) To a Service office in the district where the records are maintained (D) Nowhere — the request is not a recognised ground Answer: C. On verification of the written representation, the examination moves to a Service office.
3. An enrolled agent asks that an examination be scheduled outside filing season. What does the regulation say? (A) The Service must accommodate the representative’s filing-season workload (B) The Service may schedule throughout the year without regard to seasonal fluctuations of taxpayers or their representatives (C) Scheduling in filing season is unreasonable per se (D) The Service must schedule outside normal business hours on request Answer: B. The Service will try to minimise adverse effects, but seasonality is not a constraint on reasonableness.
4. A taxpayer requests a transfer of the place of examination. An assessment period will expire in eleven months. What may the Service require? (A) Nothing further (B) Payment of the proposed deficiency (C) A written agreement to extend the limitations period for up to one year (D) Withdrawal of the Form 2848 Answer: C. Where a limitations period will expire within thirteen months of the request, the Service may condition an otherwise permissible transfer on a written extension.
5. May the IRS inspect a taxpayer’s books of account for the same year twice? (A) Never (B) Only with a court order (C) Yes, if the taxpayer requests it or the Service gives written notice after investigation that an additional inspection is necessary (D) Yes, without restriction Answer: C. Those are the two exceptions in IRC § 7605(b).
Change log
- Initial publication from IRC § 7605 and the full text of Reg. § 301.7605-1, both opened at source.