Tax Tip 2023-98: IRS ends unannounced revenue officer visits to taxpayers

Useful Links:

IRS.gov

Help For Hurricane Victims

News Essentials

What’s Hot

News Releases

IRS – The Basics

IRS Guidance

Media Contacts

Facts & Figures

Around The Nation

e-News Subscriptions

The Newsroom Topics

Multimedia Center

Noticias en Español

Radio PSAs

Tax Scams/Consumer Alerts

The Tax Gap

Fact Sheets

IRS Tax Tips

Armed Forces

Latest News

IRS Resources

Contact Your Local IRS Office

Filing Your Taxes

Forms & Instructions

Frequently Asked Questions

Taxpayer Advocate Service

Where to File

IRS Social Media

Issue Number: Tax Tip 2023-98

IRS ends unannounced revenue officer visits to taxpayers

The IRS has ended most unannounced visits to taxpayers by revenue officers.

Ending unannounced visits to taxpayers will increase confidence in IRS’s tax administration work and improve overall safety for taxpayers and IRS employees. Fraudsters bombarding taxpayers by mail, by phone, and in person increased confusion about home visits by revenue officers.

What taxpayers can expect:

• In place of the unannounced visits, revenue officers will instead contact taxpayers through an appointment letter, known as a 725-B, and schedule a meeting.
• Taxpayers whose cases are assigned to a revenue officer will now be able to schedule face-to-face meetings at a set place and time, allowing taxpayers to gather the necessary information and documents before the meeting to help reach resolution of their cases more quickly.
• The IRS is updating IRS.gov and internal guidance to conform to this policy.

There will still be extremely limited situations where unannounced visits will occur:
These rare instances include service of summonses and subpoenas; and sensitive enforcement activities involving seizure of assets, especially those at risk of being placed beyond the reach of the government.

Know how the IRS contacts taxpayers
The IRS will never contact taxpayers by text messages or social media to request personal or financial information. Under certain temporary policies, the IRS may correspond with taxpayers by email, but only after discussing such contact directly with the taxpayer and getting consent. For more details on these situations, taxpayers should visit IRS.gov/UsingEmail

Taxpayers can get answers to tax questions by:

• Using the Interactive Tax Assistant, which asks the taxpayer a series of questions and provides answers based on their input.
• Checking out Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax (For Individuals), which covers a broad range of topics and updates on tax law changes.
• Visiting IRS.gov for info about what to do when a letter from the IRS arrives.
• Viewing Publication 5136, IRS Services Guide, for additional ways taxpayers and tax professionals can get help.

Back to top