What does audit defense mean?

Updated March 24, 2026 by Selena Quintanilla, CTEC

Hi Selena,

This was my first year filing taxes, and I opted to add your service to my TurboTax package. I received an email confirming that I have audit defense, and while I’m happy to have an added “peace of mind,” I am admittedly confused.

What exactly does audit defense mean?

-Taylor


Hi Taylor,

Congratulations on completing your first tax return. And, congrats on becoming a TaxAudit member! I know taxes can seem daunting, but hopefully, TurboTax made filing easy. And deciding to include audit defense with your filing was a great choice! We value our members, and I hope the information I share below shows that!
 

All About TaxAudit

A little background about TaxAudit that may help you feel even more at peace with who may help you in the future.
 

• TaxAudit has been around since 1988 and has helped over 350,000 members with their tax issues! 
• We have also been a trusted partner with Intuit since 1998. 
• When it comes to audit defense, there are no hidden fees. So, what you already paid is all you will need to pay. But make sure to read the agreement, so you know what to do if you ever receive a letter from a tax agency. 
• Our tax professionals are the best in the business. They receive training throughout the year to stay up to date on all tax changes.
• Security is our top priority. We want to make sure your information is safe. We pride ourselves on having a secure Message Access Portal (MAP) that all our members use to communicate and send information to their tax professionals. 

To learn more about our history, you can check out this page on our website.
 

Now, let’s dive into the meaning of audit defense.

Audit defense is a service offered through TaxAudit to support our members if their state or federal tax return is selected for review or audit. 

Let’s go over the process. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3. 
 

1. If you ever receive a notice or letter, you first call our amazing customer service department. Here, you will:
   1. Verify your account information.
   2. Provide details about the notice you received, such as the date and taxing agency.
   3. Be assigned to a case coordinator, who will provide administrative support through the duration of the case. 
   4. Receive information on how to use our secure message portal to submit your case documents. 
2. After you submit any required documents through our secure message access portal (MAP):
   1. The case coordinator will process the documents and then assign the case to a tax professional. 
3. The tax professional will:
   1. Review all the documents and request additional documents, if needed.
   2. Discuss the case and the possible outcomes. 
   3. Create a response package to send to the auditing agency. 
   4. Handle all communication with the tax agency. 
   5. Make sure you pay no more tax than what you rightfully owe 

For more information on audit defense, go here.

Receiving a letter in the mail can be scary, especially when you are new to doing your taxes. But having audit defense means you don’t have to do it on your own. 

While we hope our members don’t get audited, we are on standby to protect and defend them should they need our help. 

Sincerely,
Selena