IRS Announces End of Most Unannounced Visits to Taxpayers

The Commissioner of the IRS recently reported that the agency will discontinue nearly all unannounced visits to homes and businesses by revenue officers. This policy change is expected to improve safety, reduce confusion by allowing taxpayers to better prepare to meet with IRS personnel, and help protect taxpayers from scammers who impersonate IRS agents.

Previously, unarmed revenue officers have made unannounced visits to certain taxpayers, to work with them to resolve tax debts and/or file delinquent returns. Effectively immediately, those visits will generally be replaced with a mailed letter to set up a meeting, labeled IRS Letter 725-B. Taxpayers who receive this letter should follow the instructions to make an appointment.

Going forward, unannounced visits will generally only occur with the most serious tax cases.