IRS Reduces Unannounced Visits Due to Increased Security Concerns

Unannounced visits by IRS revenue officers will be replaced with mailed letters to schedule meetings, except in a few unique circumstances.

Increased security concerns and the presence of scam artists posing as IRS agents have contributed to the decision to end unannounced visits, the IRS said in a Monday (July 24) press release.

“These visits created extra anxiety for taxpayers already wary of potential scam artists,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in the release. “At the same time, the uncertainty around what IRS employees faced when visiting these homes created stress for them as well. This is the right thing to do and the right time to end it.”

Improved analytics and increased staffing for compliance work will help the IRS focus on more serious cases, according to the release.

Taxpayers whose cases are assigned to a revenue officer will receive appointment letters and be able to schedule face-to-face meetings, the release said. There will still be “extremely limited” situations where unannounced visits will occur, such as service of summonses and subpoenas, and sensitive enforcement activities involving asset seizure.

The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) has given its support to the new policy and emphasized the importance of protecting the safety of all IRS employees.

“The safety of IRS employees is of paramount importance, and this decision will help protect those whose jobs have only grown more dangerous in recent years because of false, inflammatory rhetoric about the agency and its workforce,” NTEU President Tony Reardon said in the release.

The changes announced Monday come as part of a larger effort to transform IRS operations following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the creation of the new IRS Strategic Operating Plan, the agency said in the release.

In other news regarding the IRS and its modernization efforts, Accenture Federal Services said in May that it has won a position on an IRS blanket purchase agreement with a ceiling value of $2.6 billion. The firm will be able to compete for task orders to support the agency in creating new ways for taxpayers and tax professionals to interact with the agency.