No one likes to have the IRS knocking on their door. It can be a scary and intimidating experience. If you have the IRS visiting you at your home or business, it’s most likely an IRS Revenue Officer, the most senior collections agent in the IRS. As highly trained individuals, their job is to handle and resolve delinquent accounts considered high priority by the IRS. These agents are assigned to work specific cases to collect what is owed to the IRS.
In this article, we dive into what exactly revenue officers do and offer tips on how to navigate your situation if you’ve been assigned one.
What Does an IRS Revenue Officer Do?
IRS revenue officers typically get assigned to you if you have payroll debt, repeatedly fail to file taxes, owe on average more than $100,000 in back taxes, or ACS has been unsuccessful in collecting your taxes.
IRS revenue officers have the authority to do the following:
- Subpoena documents
- File court orders to obtain search warrants
- Access your credit score
- Levy retirement funds or other accounts receivable
- File lawsuits to seize your home and personal and business assets
It’s important to note the revenue officers do not have the right to arrest you. However, they can refer your account to the IRS Criminal Investigations Division (CID).
The revenue officer assigned to your case will visit you in person, can stop in on you unexpectedly at any time and can also request to speak to the people surrounding you. But by then, you should have already received IRS notices demanding payment, so their visit shouldn’t come as a complete surprise. You have the right to ask for identification to make sure they are a revenue officer. They’ll carry an ID badge and an HSPD-12 card that have a photo of the revenue officer and a serial number.
What To Do If You’re Assigned a Revenue Officer
Having a revenue officer assigned to your account is a serious matter that should be taken seriously. It’s also important to stay in the officer’s good graces to make their collection efforts as smooth as possible.
With that being said, you don’t want to take on the IRS alone. The best thing to do would be to have a qualified tax debt attorney take over your case and handle it for you. A tax attorney can submit an Offer in Compromise showing that you have exhausted all other payment options or that your tax liability is incorrect. An Offer in Compromise is the most effective way to resolve and reduce your tax liability. However, legitimate tax professionals will first need to assess your entire situation to determine eligibility.
Contact US Tax Shield for Help Dealing With an IRS Revenue Officer
Our Tax Relief Experts at US Tax Shield can provide tax relief services to help taxpayers facing aggressive collection actions by IRS revenue officers. If you owe money to the IRS or State, US Tax Shield can help you turn your situation around by negotiating a fair installment agreement or Offer in Compromise.
Contact US Tax Shield today at (877) 829-3535 for your free, no obligation consultation.
