Suggestions for verifying income in a business with all cash transactions?

May 30, 2024
by a searcher from Florida State University in Leesburg, FL, USA
How can I go about verifying income in a business that takes all cash transactions? I have the owners tax return but the business has a slight net loss, however, I'm told by the owner that "it makes money". The owner has lived out of state for years and is operating another business in a different industry but worked in this industry for over 40 years and is known for this kind of work. Based on conversations with the owner, agent, current employee (basically running the business), I think it likely still nets something reasonable ($200-300k/yr?). I believe that most cash transactions are not declared on paper, thus, the net loss on his tax return. The owner is providing no P and L. Any suggestions?
from Illinois Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA, USA
from University of Illinois at Chicago in Madison, WI, USA