Q: Were you more accommodating when a taxpayer was polite with you? Or were you mandated to treat everyone equally based solely on the facts?
Michael Raanan, MBA, EA ?? IRSvideos . com
Former IRS Agent | Owe the IRS? Visit IRSvideos.com
FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS I’VE BEEN A CONTRIBUTOR ON “JOBSTR” WHERE I ANSWER TAXPAYERS’ QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BIG, BAD IRS AND MY 8 YEARS WITHIN THE BELLY OF THE BEAST!
READ MY RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION ABOVE AND BE SURE TO ASK YOUR OWN IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW!
"As a Revenue Officer (RO), my duties were to investigate the nature of a taxpayer's delinquency and collect any balances or unfiled tax returns that were due. ROs are unique among other IRS personnel as they are the last line of collection for the United States, and because of that, they also have more authority and autonomy. With their personal inventory of Collection cases, ROs work directly with the delinquent taxpayer (an individual or business) or with the taxpayer's authorized representative. After working close to 1,000 cases during my tenure, I certainly had my fair share of difficult taxpayers and representatives.
Although IRS personnel are required to treat every taxpayer with respect and professionalism, irrespective of a taxpayer's behavior, a quicker closure of a case is naturally facilitated when the IRS and taxpayer work in tandem towards a resolution. Cooperating with the IRS and disagreeing with the IRS don't have to be mutually exclusive. This idiom comes to mind, "You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.""
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Enrolled Agent
6 年Having spent 33 years inside the belly of the beast, I can surely say that there is no double standard for the treatment of "difficult" taxpayers vs all the others. But I can also say that it was made clear to the front lines that they were not expected to put up with treatment from their taxpayers that was 'less than professional', such as cursing, threats, inappropriate comments or actions, etc. Examiners are well within their rights to cut off interactions with such idiots and if there were negative consequences for the taxpayer, so be it. Luckily such idiots were few and far between in my experience.