OAN’s Brooke Mallory
5:34 PM – Tuesday, July 25, 2023
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced on Monday that the agency will drastically restrict the number of unannounced inspections of homes and businesses, citing safety concerns for its personnel as well as the possibility of scammers posing as agency officials.
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In the past, IRS officials would normally go door-to-door to collect unpaid taxes and unfiled tax returns.
However, from this point on, officials will only make these inspections in extraordinary circumstances, such as seizing assets or delivering summonses and subpoenas.
According to the IRS, a few hundred of the tens of thousands of unannounced inspections conducted each year fall under those parameters.
“These visits created extra anxiety for taxpayers already wary of potential scam artists,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “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.”
From this point forward, select taxpayers will get letters in the mail with the opportunity to meet with an officer in person.
Before conducting door-to-door visits, the IRS routinely sends numerous letters and normally carries two kinds of official identification, their IRS-issued credentials and an HSPD-12 card, which is distributed to all federal government employees.
Both IDs feature serial numbers and photographs of the individual, which you may inspect if you suspect the official is a fraud.
“We are taking a fresh look at how the IRS operates to better serve taxpayers and the nation, and making this change is a common-sense step,” Werfel said.
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