Audited Without Receipts? What r/tax and the Cohan Rule Say

The dreaded r/tax post — "audited, don't have my receipts" — draws some of the subreddit's best answers, and they track the law well: reconstruct from bank statements and vendor records (this saves more audits than people expect), understand the Cohan rule and its hard limits, get a professional for anything serious, and above all never fabricate documents — the move that converts a records problem into a fraud case. Here's the r/tax consensus, verified.

This is general information, not tax advice; audit representation is a professional's job.

"Reconstruct" — the advice that works

The top r/tax answers push back on despair: missing receipts rarely means lost deductions, because the record exists in fragments. The reconstruction ladder they describe (the full playbook):

• Bank and card statements — the transaction skeleton (what they prove).
• Vendor reprints — stores, restaurants, hotels reissue; online orders are itemized in your account.
• Email archives — confirmations are originals, not substitutes.
• Calendars, contracts, logs — establishing business purpose and pattern.

Organized reconstruction presented category-by-category reads as credibility; a shoebox of guesses doesn't. The threads are right that effort here is rewarded.

The Cohan rule, per r/tax

The subreddit's tax pros explain Cohan accurately: when you prove an expense clearly happened but can't document the exact amount, courts may allow a *reasonable estimate* — resolving doubt against you. But they flag the critical limit every time: Section 274(d) expenses get no Cohan estimate — travel, meals, and vehicle/listed property require strict substantiation, so missing records there generally mean full disallowance (why mileage logs matter). The thread summary: Cohan is a partial safety net for general expenses, useless for the categories most people lose receipts in.

The mistake that turns bad into catastrophic

Every serious r/tax audit thread contains the warning: do not create fake receipts to fill gaps. Reconstruction from real evidence is legitimate; fabricating a document is civil fraud (75% penalties) or criminal exposure — trading a manageable adjustment for a disaster. The posters who float "can I just recreate them?" get firmly corrected: recreating a record of a real purchase for your *own files* is one thing, but presenting fabrications to an auditor as originals is the line you never cross. The affidavit-and-reconstruction path exists precisely so honesty is available.

The "get a pro" consensus

r/tax reliably recommends professional representation (EA or CPA) for anything beyond a simple correspondence audit — not because DIY is impossible but because representation changes tone, catches Cohan opportunities you'd miss, and keeps you from volunteering damage. The threads treat the fee as cheap insurance against a bad outcome. What examiners actually receive — organized digital records reconciling to a ledger — is what a pro helps you assemble.

The bottom line

r/tax's audit-without-receipts wisdom is sound: reconstruct hard from statements, vendors and email; know Cohan helps general expenses but not travel/meals/mileage; get representation for anything real; and never, ever fabricate. The best thread advice, though, is preventive — the capture-everything systems that make this entire scenario a non-event next time.