IRS Employee Titles

Positions Within The Internal Revenue Service

If you recieve a notice from the IRS, and there is an IRS employee involved specifically on your file, it is important to know what that employee is capable of and what they may be looking for.  Their title will be given with any correspondence sent to you. You may read on below for a brief description of the different IRS employees you may encounter.

 

Revenue Officer

A Revenue Officer is an employee of the IRS that works solely in the Collections Division.  They may either work in a field office or a campus, which is an automated collections site.  Their assigned task is to collect the taxes owed by tax payers and little more.  They generally have little to no formal accounting education, and may secure tax returns from taxpayers but not audit them.  They are capable of filing liens, levies and wage garnishments, along with the ability of seizing a taxpayer's property in order to collect taxes owed to the IRS

 

Revenue Agent

A Revenue Agent works within in the Compliance/Examination Division. They may work in either a field office, or a campus, which is an automated collections site.  Their primary task is to audit tax returns (such as a form 1040, 1120, 1065, etc.), and are capable of auditing anything on a tax return that they feel is necessary to review.  They generally like to audit taxpayers in person, but can also audit through correspondence. These agents are considered the accountants of the IRS, and generally have at least a college level of education in accounting and/or tax training. They will ask for all owed taxes to be paid when they complete their audits, but cannot collect the taxes if a taxpayer is unable to pay.  They will then forward the case on to a Revenue Officer.

 

Tax Compliance Officer and Tax Examiner

A Tax Compliance Officer or a Tax Examiner will work within the Compliance/Examination Division of the IRS, and as with the above will be found in either a field office or a campus (automated collections site).  Their primary task is to audit less complex tax returns, and generally conduct their audits through correspondence.  The Tax Compliance Officer and Tax Examiner will have a limited formal education in accounting and/or tax training.

 

Special Agent

A Special Agent is a very serious agent to be involved with. This type of agent works within the Criminal Investigation Division (or CID).  They are responsible for enforcing the criminal laws for the IRS.  They sometimes have a formal education in accounting and/or tax training. These agents work with Revenue Agents to audit suspected taxpayers to develop a criminal fraud or tax evasion case.  If a Special Agent is involved, and you are convicted of tax evasion or criminal fraud, you could go to prison.