An IRS Revenue Officer Has Been Assigned to Your Case: What Changes and What to Do

What Letter 725-B is and why a revenue officer has your case

A revenue officer is an IRS field collection employee, and the IRS assigns one to balances that are large, old or complicated, to employment tax cases, to repeat cases and to accounts with unfiled returns. Since July 2023 the IRS has ended most unannounced field visits, so the first contact is Letter 725-B, which names the officer and proposes a meeting date. The second is Form 9297, Summary of Taxpayer Contact, which lists what the IRS wants and by when: usually Form 433-A or Form 433-B, the Collection Information Statement, with three months of bank statements, pay stubs or a profit and loss statement and proof of expenses, every missing return and, for a business, proof of current federal tax deposits. The officer checks compliance first and ability to pay second.

Under section 6331 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) the officer can levy a bank account, wages or the accounts receivable of a business; under section 6323 the officer can file the Notice of Federal Tax Lien (NFTL); and under section 7602 the officer can issue an administrative summons on Form 2039. In a payroll case the officer runs the trust fund recovery penalty investigation under section 6672, starting with Form 4180 interviews of owners, officers and check signers, and an egregious case can be referred to IRS Criminal Investigation. The same officer can accept an installment agreement, place the account in currently not collectible status or take in an offer in compromise, and reports to a group manager.

The Form 9297 deadline and what happens if nothing is done

The date on Form 9297 is the deadline that carries consequences, it is usually two to four weeks out, and missing it commonly results in a levy or a summons. By the time an officer is assigned, the Final Notice of Intent to Levy (LT11 or Letter 1058) has usually already been mailed, and once its 30 days ran, section 6330 was satisfied and the officer owes you no further warning before sending Form 668-A to your bank or Form 668-W to your employer. If it was never sent for a period, the officer sends it first (see our LT11 and Letter 1058 page). If nothing is done, the lien gets filed, missing returns get prepared by the IRS as substitute returns under section 6020(b), and the ability-to-pay decision gets made on the wage and income data the IRS already has, which produces a levy rather than a plan.

What to do in the first 30 days

The first 30 days are for getting compliant, getting the numbers right, and getting a proposal to the officer before the decision gets made without you.

1. Write down the officer’s name, phone number, the tax periods and the meeting date, and calendar the Form 9297 deadline when it arrives.
2. Call the officer, or have your representative call, to confirm or move the meeting, and sign Form 2848 if someone will represent you, so it is on file before the meeting.
3. Pull account and wage and income transcripts for every period to see the assessment dates, the unfiled years and the ten-year collection statute under section 6502.
4. File every missing return from real records, and start current estimated payments or, for a business, on-time federal tax deposits from this pay period forward.
5. Complete Form 433-A or Form 433-B with numbers you can document, and compare your expenses to the IRS Collection Financial Standards.
6. Decide the proposal before the meeting: an installment agreement, currently not collectible status, or an offer in compromise, at the number the statement supports.

Your options once a revenue officer has the case

The officer can accept an installment agreement, place the account in currently not collectible status, or take in an offer in compromise, and which one fits is decided by the Collection Information Statement rather than by persuasion. An installment agreement under section 6159 is the most common outcome, and where full payment is not possible before the statute expires, a partial payment installment agreement pays what the statement supports. Currently not collectible status applies when allowable expenses leave nothing to pay; collection stops and interest keeps running. An offer in compromise settles the debt for what the IRS calculates it could collect, and under section 6331(k) no levy can issue while it is pending. A disagreement with the officer goes to the group manager, then to the Collection Appeals Program on Form 9423, and the Taxpayer Advocate Service takes hardship cases. In a payroll case, a voluntary payment can be directed in writing to the trust fund portion of the debt, the part the IRS can assess against you personally.

What Brotman Law does when a revenue officer is assigned

We take over contact with the officer on day one, get you compliant before the meeting, and put a proposal in writing that the financial statement supports. The Form 2848 goes to the IRS and a copy goes to the officer by fax the day we are retained. We call the officer that week, move the Form 9297 deadline if the records need more time, and check the collection statute on every period. If returns are missing we prepare them or get them filed, and we set up the current deposits. We build the Form 433-A or Form 433-B ourselves, write the proposal before the meeting, and attend the meeting so you do not have to. If a levy has already issued we request release under section 6343, and if the officer refuses a plan the statement supports we go to the group manager and then to Appeals. In a payroll case we prepare each owner and check signer for the Form 4180 interview, direct payments to the trust fund portion, and file the protest within 60 days when Letter 1153 proposes the penalty.

Do you need a lawyer for this?

A balance under roughly $50,000 with no revenue officer, no levy or lien and no business payroll tax can usually be handled with an IRS payment plan you set up yourself, and a revenue officer assignment is the fact that moves most cases past that line. An individual who owes $50,000 or less can apply for a long-term payment plan online at IRS.gov, over up to 72 months, with no financial statement. If the balance is modest, the years are all filed, and Form 433-A supports a payment you can make, you can handle the meeting yourself. Our monthly engagement fits when the balance is large, when a levy or lien is in play, when returns are missing for several years, or when the debt is business payroll tax, because the trust fund investigation is where a business problem becomes a personal one.

How the monthly flat fee works here

Many matters like this one run as a monthly flat-fee engagement: one number, agreed up front, that covers agency contact, deadlines, document responses and strategy until the matter resolves. For a revenue officer case that means the Form 2848, every call and letter with the officer and the group manager, the Form 9297 response, the Collection Information Statement and the returns behind it, the payment proposal, and the appeal if the officer says no.

Documents to gather

Bring the letters, three months of financial records, and proof that current taxes are being paid.

• Letter 725-B and Form 9297 with their envelopes, and every IRS notice from the last two years.
• Three months of statements for every bank account, and pay stubs or a year-to-date profit and loss statement.
• Proof of monthly expenses: rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance, car payments, medical costs and child support.
• Retirement and investment statements, and loan balances on real estate and cars.
• For a business: payroll reports, Forms 941, federal tax deposit confirmations for the current quarter, and a list of who signs checks.

Will the revenue officer come to my house or my business?

Usually not without notice. Since July 2023 the IRS has ended most unannounced visits, and the officer schedules contact through Letter 725-B. Visits still happen in a few situations, such as serving a summons, and an in-person meeting can usually be moved to the phone by asking.

Can a revenue officer levy my bank account without another warning?

Yes, if the Final Notice of Intent to Levy was already sent for those periods and its 30 days have passed. If it was never sent for a period, the officer sends it first, and a Form 12153 request within 30 days stops the levy while Appeals reviews the case.

What is Form 9297?

Form 9297, Summary of Taxpayer Contact, is the officer’s written list of the documents and actions required and the date they are due. It typically asks for Form 433-A or Form 433-B, every missing return, and proof of current deposits, and its deadline is the real one.

Do I have to talk to the revenue officer myself?

No. Publication 1, Your Rights as a Taxpayer, covers your right to representation, and once Form 2848 is on file, section 6304 requires the officer to communicate through your representative. The exception is a payroll case, where each owner, officer and check signer can be asked to sit for a Form 4180 interview.

What happens if I miss the Form 9297 deadline?

The common result is a levy on a bank account or wages, or a summons for the records that did not arrive. An extension requested in writing before the date, with progress to show, is usually granted, and one requested after the date usually is not.

Can a revenue officer refer my case for criminal investigation?

Yes, in an egregious case, which usually means years of unfiled returns, payroll taxes withheld from employees and spent, or false statements on a financial form. The referral is rare, and it is the reason the returns and the Form 433 get done accurately the first time.

Related pages

• IRS collections attorney
• IRS CP14 notice
• IRS CP501 and CP503 reminder notices
• IRS CP504 Notice of Intent to Levy
• IRS Final Notice of Intent to Levy (LT11 or Letter 1058)
• Notice of Federal Tax Lien filed (Letter 3172)
• IRS bank levy and wage levy
• Trust fund recovery penalty (Letter 1153)
• IRS passport certification (CP508C)
• IRS Form 433 financial statement