A common IRS question that people want to know the answer to when they go to the Triage Tax Relief website is about Revenue Officers and Revenue Agents. People routinely want to know two things about the two types of experts. People want to know what the difference is between a Revenue Officer and a Revenue Agent, and they also want to know what it means when one of these experts shows up for a visit at a person’s home or office.
To answer the first IRS question, a Revenue Officer works in the Business and Tax Enforcement area at the Internal Revenue Service. A Revenue Officer has two main roles. One role is to collect unpaid and delinquent monies that are presumably owed to the United States Department of the Treasury. The other main role of a Revenue Officer is to get delinquent or unfiled returns from taxpayers who have not filed their federal returns. All other duties of this expert support these two main primary duties of collect money or returns.
A Revenue Officer can and will take enforcement action against people that they believe owe either money or returns to the United States Treasury Department. He isn’t there to simply answer any questions someone may have in reference to the matter. They exist to collect tax money that is owed. In order to fulfill the duties of their job, they need to determine a person’s ability to pay the money owed. Therefore, it is incumbent upon them to gather financial data from taxpayers and analyze it to see how much someone can pay on their tax debt.
On the other hand, a Revenue Agent works in the Budget, Accounting and Finance area of the Internal Revenue Service. There are several employment levels of a Revenue Agent that vary with some duties, but in general, their main role is to examine, audit and review returns. A Revenue Agent audits the returns of businesses, corporations and individuals to make sure compliance and adherence to the federal tax code are being met. Just like a Revenue Officer, a Revenue Agent isn’t there to answer an IRS question for someone. They exist for another reason. That reason is to audit returns.
Here is the answer to the other IRS question that people frequently want to know about, which is what it means when a Revenue Officer or Revenue Agent makes a personal visit to a person’s home or office. It simply and frankly means that they want something from a person. In the case of a Revenue Officer, they want money or the federal returns that are due. In the case of a Revenue Agent, they want proof, documentation and explanations for why something is on a federal tax return.
A taxpayer is unevenly matched against the skills and knowledge of either of these experts. That is why it is so important for a person to immediately hire professional help when one of these people come knocking. They want something. However, they may not be entitled to whatever they want under the federal tax code. A person needs to hire a professional to make sure they get fair treatment under the federal tax code and have each IRS question answered thoroughly.