When you are contacted by the IRS

There are a range of circumstances in which a taxpayer could end up being contacted by the Internal Revenue Service. Such contact can take multiple forms. You might receive a letter from the agency. A revenue agent or officer might contact you by phone. Also, you might be visited by a revenue agent, revenue officer or criminal investigator at your place of business or home.

Typically, the IRS’s initial contact with a taxpayer over a given matter will occur by mail. There are, however, exceptions to this.

There are many concerns a taxpayer may have when contacted by the IRS. For one, you may be worried about whether it is actually the IRS contacting you. After all, there are a lot of scams out there these days. Recently, on its website, the IRS put out an article going over how IRS workers contact taxpayers by phone and in person. The article also went over some of the thing IRS representatives will not do during communications with taxpayers. You can ask individuals who say they are with the IRS for credentials.

Another thing you may be concerned about when contacted by the IRS is what to do now. Tax matters can have some pretty big consequences connected to them. You might be worried about how you respond to the contact and the issue underlying it might impact your future.

An important thing to know is that you don’t have to try to address concerns you have regarding being contacted by the IRS by yourself. Skilled tax attorneys can answer questions taxpayers have about communications from the IRS. They can also assist taxpayers with their interactions with the IRS and the tax issues underlying such interactions.

Source: Internal Revenue Service, “How Does the IRS Contact Taxpayers?,” Aug. 2, 2017