IRS Collections

IRS Revenue Officers and Strategies for Dealing with Them – Part One

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Boe Sales Tax Audits Pt 3

Introduction: About IRS Revenue Officers

IRS revenue officers are the most senior collections agents in the IRS.[1] IRS revenue officers handle those delinquent accounts that the IRS places the highest priority on, so much so that the government has assigned a local agent to specifically work the case in order to collect what is owed to the IRS. Generally, these individuals are highly trained and will incorporate an arsenal of tools and tactics in order to resolve the account in the favor of the IRS. They can retrieve third party records through summons, contact your employer, show up at your home or work, and seize a variety of assets (wages, accounts receivable, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, merchant accounts, etc…) in order to satisfy your tax liability. Having a revenue officer assigned to your collection account is a serious matter and it is important to take that person and their collection efforts seriously. Failure to do so may end you up on the bad side of the revenue officer and may make your life extremely difficult.

Key Takeaways

  • IRS revenue officers are the most senior collections agents in the IRS.
  • Many revenue officers are nice people and there some I would consider professional friends. However, I am under no illusions when I have to deal with a revenue officer.

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Strategies for the IRS Automated Collection System – Part Two

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IRS Automated Collection System Strategy #3 – Do not be afraid to play the IRS Automated Collection System lottery

I can often tell from the first minute of the call with the Automated Collection System representative how things are going to go during the call. If the representative is rude or short with me during that first minute, often times I will hang up and call back to get another Automated Collection System representative (what I call affectionately the ACS lottery). There is zero point to spending an entire phone call arguing with someone, which will only frustrate you and is unlikely to lead to the result you are seeking. Why put yourself through such misery? Instead, if your representative if nasty or you get a bad feeling during the call, just bail. You may waste an hour waiting on hold in order to call them back, but you will be glad that you did when you get the result that you wanted.

Key Takeaways

  • I can often tell from the first minute of the call with the Automated Collection System representative how things are going to go during the call.
  • Payment plans are based on a simple formula. Generally, if you owe fifty thousand dollars or less, your Automated Collection System representative will want you to pay your balance completely in a maximum of seventy-two months (five years).
  • I believe that at this point I have likely negotiated hundreds and hundreds of resolutions for taxpayers through automated collection systems. Most of these have gone off without a hitch, my client is pleased, and everyone moves on with their life as it was.

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Strategies for the IRS Automated Collection System – Part One

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Many taxpayers get frustrated when dealing with the IRS Automated Collection System (ACS). After what can be some long wait times, taxpayers are sometimes presented with seemingly inflexible options for resolving their balance due to the IRS. After reaching an impasse with ACS, they often resort to hiring professional help to resolve their tax problems. While I do appreciate the business from prospective clients, I am sympathetic to their financial difficulties and encourage them to at least try to resolve their own tax issues before turning to professional assistance. In the spirit of trying to encourage this, I have put together a short list of some of my best strategies for dealing with ACS.

Key Takeaways

  • Many taxpayers get frustrated when dealing with the IRS Automated Collection System (ACS). After what can be some long wait times, taxpayers are sometimes presented with seemingly inflexible options for resolving their balance due to the IRS.
  • One of my favorite sayings is that you win more flies with honey than with vinegar. No truer is that statement than in my experience dealing with the IRS Automated Collection System.
  • So the first thing to do when you get on the phone with the IRS Automated Collection System representative is to disarm any hostility. I thank them for taking my call if I have been waiting on hold for a really long time.

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How IRS Collections Works – Part Five

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IRS Collections Step Seven and Eight – Adverse Actions Against the Taxpayer

Finally, we turn to the most serious of actions by IRS collections: Property seizures (including levies) and lawsuits filed against the taxpayer.

Key Takeaways

  • Finally, we turn to the most serious of actions by IRS collections: Property seizures (including levies) and lawsuits filed against the taxpayer.
  • After the Notice of Intent to Levy is sent out notifying the taxpayer of the government’s intent to seize property; any and all taxpayer property is subject to seizure (barring a few specially exempted items).
  • The levy is also usually continuous until the liability is 1) paid in full by the taxpayer or 2) a suitable alternative is agreed to by the government.

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How IRS Collections Works – Part Four

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IRS Collections Step Six – Your Case is Assigned to the Field to be Handled by a Revenue Officer

When telephonic contact fails and the efforts of ACS are not fruitful and if your case meets a certain collection priority (usually based on the amount due or estimated due by the IRS), then you will be referred by ACS to the field where a local IRS office will assign you to a revenue officer. Revenue officer assignments are based geographically on the IRS office that is closest to the taxpayer. These offices contain collection personnel, who handle collection efforts at the local level.

Key Takeaways

  • Revenue officers are highly skilled collection agents within the IRS that resolve accounts the IRS feels are a collection priority. Most revenue officers have some sort of financial background or previous collections experience.
  • In addition, revenue officers have the power to issue summons to the taxpayer and third parties, such as banks or other financial institutions. They can demand that the taxpayer show up to their office at a designated time with records in hand.
  • If your account has gotten to the point where a revenue officer is involved, then you are at the highest level within the IRS for collections until district counsel gets involved and initiates legal action against you and/or your property.

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How IRS Collections Works – Part Three

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IRS Collections Step Five – Your Case is Assigned to IRS Automated Collection Systems (ACS)

At a certain point (usually after sixteen weeks), the service center makes the determination that its collection efforts have not yielded sufficient results and the taxpayer’s account is transferred to one of two places: Automated Collection Systems (ACS) or to the Collection field function (i.e. a revenue officer at a local IRS office). Most collection accounts will start in ACS though. ACS is a system of twenty-three computerized telephonic collection centers spread across the United States.[1] ACS essentially has three functions[2].

Key Takeaways

  • If you do not contact ACS directly, rest assured that they will make the effort to get in touch with you. ACS has several different avenues for getting ahold of taxpayers.
  • The best time to call ACS is either early in the morning or late at night. As with most telephone response systems, ACS hits high call volume during mid-day. ACS’s hours also stagger based on the area of the country you are calling from.

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How IRS Collections Works – Part Two

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IRS Collections Step Three – You Receive a Notice of Intent to Levy (CP 504)

After this sixteen week time period, the taxpayer’s account has entered into IRS collections status. As such, they will receive a threatening letter notifying them of the government’s intent to seize their property if they do not pay their outstanding balance in full or they do not enter into a suitable payment arrangement. This letter will be sent by certified mail to the last known address of the taxpayer. However, in some instances where the taxpayer has a large balance due to the IRS, the IRS may skip the prior Notices of Balance due and jump straight to the Notice of Intent to Levy. This is done to compel action on the part of the taxpayer to resolve the account.

Key Takeaways

  • After this sixteen week time period, the taxpayer’s account has entered into IRS collections status.
  • This Notice of Intent to Levy is an important step because it satisfies the initial requirement of the government to notify the taxpayer before it begins to seize their assets.
  • Steps four, five, and six are generally interchangeable. After a Notice of Intent to Levy has gone out, your account will likely be sent to Automated Collection Systems.

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How IRS Collections Works – Part One

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There is alot of confusion among many of my clients about the IRS collections process and what actions the IRS is able to legally take against the taxpayer. People who owe balance dues see a series of increasingly threatening letters and I often get panicked phone calls from taxpayers who think that the IRS is going to take their house because of the five thousand dollar balance they have accumulated. As such, I wanted to trace the lifecycle of a balance due to the IRS in order to better educate people on exactly how the IRS collections process works. I hope this serves as a helpful resource and alleviates some of the stress associated with owing money to the government.

Key Takeaways

  • There is alot of confusion among many of my clients about the IRS collections process and what actions the IRS is able to legally take against the taxpayer.
  • After your return has been processed, if your return indicates a balance due or the IRS makes a change to the return and additional tax is assessed, then you will start to receive notices from the IRS.

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Beat the Clock: Address Tax Problems Early

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One of the most common problems that I see in my practice is a failure of taxpayers to properly address their tax problems in a timely manner. Many taxpayers feel wait for the problem to grow to a point where serious action must be taken in order to be resolved where the problem could have rather been addressed by simple preventative action at the beginning of the problem. Specifically, this happens often in the arena of collections problems and where taxpayers owe a sum of money to the IRS. While I do want to remind taxpayers that it is never too late to properly resolve a tax issue, I did want to discuss some of the added benefits to solving your tax problems early.

Key Takeaways

  • One of the most common problems that I see in my practice is a failure of taxpayers to properly address their tax problems in a timely manner.
  • One of the biggest advantages of solving tax problems before they start is the ability of taxpayers to significantly reduce the amount of penalties and interest that they may owe to the IRS.
  • Too often, I counsel clients who have made their tax problems way worst than necessary by letting them fester. Clients either leave stacks of unopened mail just sitting there or fail to pick up certified letters when they become due.

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IRS Wage and Income Transcripts: See Every W-2 and 1099 the IRS Has

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A wage and income transcript is the IRS’s record of every W-2, 1099, 1098, and 5498 filed under your Social Security number — it’s how you reconstruct a lost W-2, verify what employers and banks reported about you, and see exactly what the IRS will match your return against. You can pull it free in minutes through your IRS individual online account, by mail, or with Form 4506-T; online transcripts cover the current year and roughly the past decade. Identifying details are partially masked for identity protection, but the dollar amounts are complete.

By Sam Brotman, JD, LLM, MBA · Last updated July 2026

The five IRS transcript types — and which one you actually need

  • Wage and income transcript — the information returns above. Use it to reconstruct income for unfiled years or check what the IRS’s matching program sees.
  • Tax return transcript — most line items from the return as you filed it. What lenders usually want.
  • Tax account transcript — the IRS’s running ledger: assessments, penalties, payments, and the transaction codes that show what the IRS is doing with your account. We cover it in our account transcript guide.
  • Record of account — return transcript and account transcript combined.
  • Verification of non-filing letter — proof the IRS has no return on file for a year.

For anything involving back taxes, the wage-and-income and account transcripts together are the diagnostic X-ray: what was reported, what was assessed, what’s been paid, and how much collection time remains.

IRS Transcripts – Wage and Income Transcripts

These types of IRS transcripts are a record of all of the wage and income data provided to the IRS by 3rd party providers including your employer, banks, financial institutions, brokerage houses, other government agencies, corporations, casinos, and a few others. All W2s, W2-Gs, 1099s, 1098s, 5498s, K1s, and other records of income on file for your social security number will be listed. Wage and income transcripts are most beneficial when preparing past returns because they are a quick and easy listing of income that you may have earned for that tax year. However, wage and income IRS transcripts should be checked for potential errors and compared with the information that you have in your records. 3rd parties can and frequently do make mistakes. Also, equally important, is to check your wage and income transcript for instances of identity theft. Wage and income transcripts are also an excellent provide insight into what information the IRS has on file for you. Although hopefully you will be able to prevent adverse collection activity before it occurs after reading this book, wage and income transcripts can give some idea of what they may come after (and how quickly they will be able to find it) if collection activity does occur.

Key Takeaways

  • It is also important to note that wage and income IRS transcripts are not always complete for the current year, as the IRS is still receiving and processing information from 3rd parties.
  • Return transcripts are itemized line by line records of your individual income tax return (Form 1040, 1040a, 1040ez) as it was filed and processed by the IRS. When the IRS receives a tax return, it breaks it down into bits of data that it can more easily use.

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