IRS agents, except for a few unique circumstances, will no longer make unannounced visits to the homes of taxpayers, the agency said Monday.
The news marks an immediate policy change to protect employees' safety due to the fear of interacting with potentially irate taxpayers.
"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," IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a release announcing the shift.
"Changing this long-standing procedure will increase confidence in our tax administration work and improve overall safety for taxpayers and IRS employees."
IRS revenue officers had been visiting households and businesses for decades to collect unpaid taxes and unfiled tax returns.
Unannounced visits will end and will be replaced with mailed letters to schedule meetings, the IRS said.
The new policy will reduce visits in the tens of thousands to no more than a few hundred per year, The Washington Post reported.
The National Treasury Employees Union supports the IRS policy change.
"NTEU welcomes the IRS decision to halt unannounced visits by IRS Field Collection employees," said NTEU National President Tony Reardon.
"The safety of IRS employees is of paramount importance and this decision will help protect those whose jobs have only grown more dangerous in recent years because of false, inflammatory rhetoric about the agency and its workforce. We applaud Commissioner Werfel's quick action after hearing the safety concerns raised by NTEU leaders and IRS Field Collection employees who faced dangerous situations that put their safety at risk."
Additionally, the growth in scam artists, some posing as IRS agents, bombarding taxpayers has increased confusion about home visits.
"These visits created extra anxiety for taxpayers already wary of potential scam artists," Werfel said. "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.
"We have the tools we need to successfully collect revenue without adding stress with unannounced visits. The only losers with this change in policy are scammers posing as the IRS."
The IRS last week said it had collected $38 million in tax debts from just 175 high-income taxpayers in recent months.
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