Is this the END of the taxman knocking at your door? IRS halts most unannounced visits to households due to safety concerns for its staff
- IRS has announced it has put a halt to unannounced visits to taxpayer’s homes
- Officials said decision was made out of concerns for its staff’s safety, adding knocking on somebody’s door is ‘a different scenario than it was 10 or 15 years ago’
- It is part of a wider IRS overhaul which is hoping to improve customer service
The days of fearing the taxman knocking at your door unannounced may be over as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has put a stop to the decades-long practice.
Officials today cited safety concerns of its staff as the reason for its decision – adding that knocking on somebody’s door is ‘a different scenario than it was 10 or 15 years ago.’
The change forms part of a wider $80 billion IRS overhaul which is hoping to improve customer service and tax enforcement.
IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel told reporters in a call attended by CNBC: ‘Starting today, if someone’s ringing your doorbell, it’s extremely unlikely to be an IRS collection employee unless you made an appointment for a home visit.
‘The change reverses a long-standing practice by IRS revenue officers that goes back decades.’
The IRS has put a halt to unannounced visits to taxpayer’s homes amid concerns for the safety of its staff
IRS commissioner Danny Werfel, pictured, told reporters knocking on somebody’s door is ‘a different scenario than it was 10 or 15 years ago’
He added: ‘Knocking on someone’s door today is a different scenario than it was 10 or 15 years ago, and there have been significant reports from IRS employees where they have felt unsafe.’
Previously IRS officers would turn up at a taxpayer’s home if they owed ‘substantial debt.’ On average, these households had an unpaid balance of $110,000, Werfel said.
Each year the IRS made around 100,000 unannounced visits, with officers seeing them as a routine part of the job.
But from today, households that owe money will instead be contacted via a mailed letter – known as a 725-B.
This will likely ask to schedule an in-person meeting with officials from the agency.
The move was supported by the National Treasury Employees Union which represents IRS employees.
In a statement, the national president of the Union Tony Reardon said: ‘Unfortunately, the hostile rhetoric and false claims about IRS employees have made their work more dangerous in recent years.
‘The revenue officers we represent will continue to efficiently and effectively carry out their mission of helping taxpayers meet their lawful tax obligations through other means of communication.’
A graphic shows the breakdown of spending from the IRS’s new $80 billion plan to improve customer service
While the practice has been banned, Werfel added that it would still be deployed in ‘extremely limited situations.’
This includes when subpoenas need to be issued or assets seized.
‘These activities are just a drop in the bucket compared to the number of visits that have taken place in the past, Werfel added.
It comes after the IRS pledged to get to grips with its ‘unacceptably poor’ customer service standards.
Back in April, officials said they had slashed wait times for its customer service phoneline from 27 minutes to four.
It comes after years of heavy criticism directed at the IRS for its understaffing and poor customer service standards which were exacerbated during the pandemic.
