IRS to Deploy Pot Audit Teams

(Photo Illustration by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The IRS is developing specialized pot audit teams to focus on industry compliance, an agency administrator revealed this month. Though it will likely lead to more audits, cannabis operators should welcome the shift, said an attorney involved in a prominent tax battle with the IRS.

Daniel Lauer, the director of small business/self-employed field examination for the IRS, mentioned the new teams among several ways the IRS is attempting to get cannabis operators to pay their taxes. His comments were part of the 36th annual “Tax Controversy Conference,” an online panel discussion on tax-related issues . . .