IRS Revenue Officers: What do to when they come knocking

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First thing A Revenue Officer is not a Revenue Agent.
There is a distinction between an IRS Revenue Officer and an IRS Revenue Agent. A Revenue Officer is employed by an IRS field collection office. Their job is to collect money.


Number two. A Revenue Officer does not carry a gun.
I think I would carry a gun. People can be kind of crazy.

Third, a Revenue Officer's badge is a plastic card usually attached to a lanyard

If someone flashes a gold badge and says they are from the IRS. That's not a Revenue Officer. That is an agent from the IRS Criminal Investigation Division (CID). My advice would to remain silent expect to contact your lawyer. Oh yeah, they do carry a gun.
 
Forth, a Revenue Officer can not arrest you.

If someone brags about how they stopped a revenue officer from arresting you, you don’t have to listen to too much of whatever that person is saying. A revenue officer has no arresting ability. The only thing a revenue officer can do is refer you to CID. Yet CID only accepts a fraction of those cases referred.
 
Fifth - A Revenue Officer does not need a financial background for the job

All that is required for a Revenue Officer position is a four-year degree. A Revenue Officer can have a bachelor of Fine Arts and be qualified for the job. This is why Revenue Officers initially engage in months of training of training on an ongoing basis. The IRS has a lot of money and time invested in their best Revenue Officers.  
 
Sixth. A Revenue Officer isn't graded on how much money they collect
A Revenue Officer does not get promoted for bringing in the most money. Rather, it's how many cases they successfully remove from their "inventory" of collections matters. A Revenue Officer would rather you enter into a "collection alternative" like an offer in compromise to pay far less than for you to sandbag them for years.
Seventh. A Revenue Officers' powers are sort of limited.

The IRS's use of seizures of homes and personal assets is way down. The reason is that the Revenue and Reform Act of 1998 made it very difficult to do so. So, what can a Revenue Officer do? Levy any accounts receivable. Lien property. Levy retirement funds. Levy wages and bank accounts. Subpoena documents. Yet if a taxpayer is dedicated to running up new liabilities and trying to hide their personal affairs, this delays and frustrates the IRS. You could get the IRS to close out your case, or your obfuscation could earn a lot of federal attention. If someone at the IRS really wants to make an example out of, they can.
 
Eighth. A Revenue Officer MUST attempt initial contact in person. The Internal Revenue Manual requires that every Revenue Officer make first contact with a taxpayer in person.
 
You may not have been home the first time they showed up, so if you are wondering why someone from the IRS left a card for you at your home or on your car, don't ignore it. They will continue to attempt to contact you.
 
Ninth. Many Revenue Officers are friendly and reasonable. So too of taxpayers. And that's a problem. This can be a bad thing! As stated above, a Revenue Officer just wants to close the case, and many taxpayers just want to get the matter behind them. So both parties, anxious to close the matter, agree to a "collection alternative." The only problem is, in their haste to reach an agreement, neither one looked to see if the agreement is reasonable. Optimism and lack of information about alternatives cause taxpayers to enter into repayment agreements that are not realistic. 

Ten. There’s not enough revenue officer and that could be a bad thing
The IRS is about at half the effective strength they were 10 years ago. And you might think this is a good thing. And it can be a good thing - we’ve gotten deals we would not have gotten 10 years ago. But this is the problem. Cases are stacked up awaiting to be assigned revenue officers. The problem is that you are likely only going to add to your problem. By laying low, you aren’t able to take advantage of the great deals. Yet the IRS isn’t going away. And they tend to pop up right at the worst time. Taking the initiative when they IRS is overwhelmed could be the best strategy.

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