As reported 16 September, my 2013 federal income tax return was chosen somehow for an audit. After hours of assembling documents and furnishing them to the IRS, the result came in the mail yesterday: I get a refund of $219.00.
I found some deductions I overlooked (which more than compensated for some checks I could not find).
A professor of mine in the MBA program at UNC-Kenan-Flagler once said you can choose to eat well or sleep well – make lots of money by taking shortcuts that cause you to worry, or take a cautious approach that can’t easily be challenged. I have tended toward caution in my own tax affairs, and have wanted my clients to be aware of the cautious approach.
Before filing originally, I didn’t scour my affairs for every possible deduction. Still, I didn’t know that one particular big deduction would come to my rescue.
The best feeling about a refund is that the IRS may not audit me again soon. If their computer targets my return, the result of this audit may indicate that auditing me again may not be worth it.
The Center for New Revenue 
I was audited once. It was an educational experience. Most memorable was the agent wanting to disallow parking expenses when my wife drove to pick me up at the airport coming back from a business trip on the theory that it was not a necessary expense because my wife could have driven around in circles until the plane arrived. I then pointed out that the added mileage would result in a larger deduction. The agent dropped her bright idea.
Equally memorable was my accompanying a fellow and his wife on his audit. He was 6-6 and weighed about 280, she was about 5-2 and weighed about 100. Their family of 4 was away on a business trip ( for hubby only) and he claimed half of all grocery expenses for him. The agent remarked, “Half, that is ridiculous. The agent looked at the couple and said, “In your case it probably isn’t.” He was delighted to have received this insult and the accompanying allowance of his claimed deduction.