{"id":38411,"date":"2018-05-23T15:50:22","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T20:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?p=38411"},"modified":"2020-06-05T14:59:29","modified_gmt":"2020-06-05T19:59:29","slug":"can-the-irs-call-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/can-the-irs-call-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Can The IRS Call Me? Technically, Yes, But It&#8217;s Rare."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The IRS can call you. But most people never get a call from the IRS.<\/p>\n<h2>Calls from the IRS are rare<\/h2>\n<p>There are a couple reasons why:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The IRS mainly sends notices because it doesn\u2019t have the personnel to call taxpayers.<\/li>\n<li>The IRS wants to combat the many IRS impersonation phone scams.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The IRS will call you directly in only two instances:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You owe large amounts of back taxes (usually $100,000 or more).<\/li>\n<li>You\u2019re subject to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/tax-dictionary-irs-field-audit\/\">field audit<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In both of these cases, you\u2019ll probably already know about the issue and the call before your phone ever rings. The IRS sends notices first, followed by a scheduled visit or call.<\/p>\n<h2>If you owe back taxes<\/h2>\n<p>The IRS will ask you to pay several times by mail before making any phone contact. The IRS does use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/tax-dictionary-private-debt-collection\/\">third-party debt collectors<\/a> for people who owe back taxes, but the IRS will always <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-notice-cp40-assigned-overdue-tax-account-private-collection-agency\/\">send a letter first<\/a> letting you know about the collection agency that will call to collect your tax debt.<\/p>\n<h2>If you\u2019re under an IRS field audit<\/h2>\n<p>These audits are usually limited to businesses and high-wealth people, and the IRS would formally announce the audit by mail, with a request for information. These days, field audits are rare \u2013 and taxpayers almost always get a letter about the audit in advance.<\/p>\n<h2>Beware IRS impersonators<\/h2>\n<p>IRS impersonator calls can be unsettling, because the caller demands payment and threatens legal and criminal consequences. In these instances, rest assured that the call is fake, because you\u2019ll always get an IRS notice in advance.<\/p>\n<p>The answer here: Just hang up. An IRS impersonator is trying to scam you out of your money.<\/p>\n<h2>Yes, the IRS can call you \u2013 but it will not be a surprise<\/h2>\n<p>If you owe a lot of taxes or you\u2019re under a field audit, you will have received a notice before the IRS calls.<\/p>\n<p>If the IRS has called you in one of those situations, you\u2019ll need to get back into compliance. Your tax pro can get to the bottom of your issue and deal with the IRS for you. Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-offices\/extended-tax-services\/tax-audit\/audit-support.html\">H&amp;R Block\u2019s Tax Audit &amp; Notice Services<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The IRS can call you. But most people never get a call from the IRS. Calls from the IRS are rare There are a couple reasons why: The IRS mainly sends notices because it doesn\u2019t have the personnel to call taxpayers. The IRS wants to combat the many IRS impersonation phone scams. The IRS will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":605,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-irs","category-audits-and-tax-notices"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<title>Can The IRS Call Me? Technically, Yes, But It&#039;s Rare. | H&amp;R Block<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It&#039;s rare to receive a phone call from the IRS, and you&#039;ll always get an IRS notice in advance. Learn more from the tax experts at H&amp;R Block.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/can-the-irs-call-me\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can The IRS Call Me? Technically, Yes, But It&#039;s Rare.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It&#039;s rare to receive a phone call from the IRS, and you&#039;ll always get an IRS notice in advance. Learn more from the tax experts at H&amp;R Block.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/can-the-irs-call-me\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"H&amp;R Block\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-23T20:50:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-05T19:59:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elyce Luegers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hrblock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hrblock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elyce Luegers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/can-the-irs-call-me\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/can-the-irs-call-me\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elyce Luegers\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/91512e91ae00a37478a4f91b90022449\"},\"headline\":\"Can The IRS Call Me? Technically, Yes, But It&#8217;s Rare.\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-23T20:50:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-05T19:59:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/can-the-irs-call-me\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":378,\"articleSection\":[\"IRS\",\"Audits and tax notices\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/can-the-irs-call-me\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/can-the-irs-call-me\\\/\",\"name\":\"Can The IRS Call Me? Technically, Yes, But It's Rare. | H&R Block\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-23T20:50:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-05T19:59:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/91512e91ae00a37478a4f91b90022449\"},\"description\":\"It's rare to receive a phone call from the IRS, and you'll always get an IRS notice in advance. Learn more from the tax experts at H&R Block.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/can-the-irs-call-me\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/can-the-irs-call-me\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/can-the-irs-call-me\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Can The IRS Call Me? Technically, Yes, But It&#8217;s Rare.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"H&amp;R Block\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/91512e91ae00a37478a4f91b90022449\",\"name\":\"Elyce Luegers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f00afad2c139e11049696685997b274ab85ac39af90c8f8bc5497183b023f35c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f00afad2c139e11049696685997b274ab85ac39af90c8f8bc5497183b023f35c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f00afad2c139e11049696685997b274ab85ac39af90c8f8bc5497183b023f35c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elyce Luegers\"}}]}<\/script>","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Can The IRS Call Me? Technically, Yes, But It's Rare. | H&R Block","description":"It's rare to receive a phone call from the IRS, and you'll always get an IRS notice in advance. Learn more from the tax experts at H&R Block.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/can-the-irs-call-me\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Can The IRS Call Me? Technically, Yes, But It's Rare.","og_description":"It's rare to receive a phone call from the IRS, and you'll always get an IRS notice in advance. Learn more from the tax experts at H&R Block.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/can-the-irs-call-me\/","og_site_name":"H&amp;R Block","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock","article_published_time":"2018-05-23T20:50:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-06-05T19:59:29+00:00","author":"Elyce Luegers","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@hrblock","twitter_site":"@hrblock","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elyce Luegers","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/can-the-irs-call-me\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/can-the-irs-call-me\/"},"author":{"name":"Elyce Luegers","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#\/schema\/person\/91512e91ae00a37478a4f91b90022449"},"headline":"Can The IRS Call Me? Technically, Yes, But It&#8217;s Rare.","datePublished":"2018-05-23T20:50:22+00:00","dateModified":"2020-06-05T19:59:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/can-the-irs-call-me\/"},"wordCount":378,"articleSection":["IRS","Audits and tax notices"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/can-the-irs-call-me\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/can-the-irs-call-me\/","name":"Can The IRS Call Me? Technically, Yes, But It's Rare. | H&R Block","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-05-23T20:50:22+00:00","dateModified":"2020-06-05T19:59:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#\/schema\/person\/91512e91ae00a37478a4f91b90022449"},"description":"It's rare to receive a phone call from the IRS, and you'll always get an IRS notice in advance. Learn more from the tax experts at H&R Block.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/can-the-irs-call-me\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/can-the-irs-call-me\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/can-the-irs-call-me\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Can The IRS Call Me? Technically, Yes, But It&#8217;s Rare."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/","name":"H&amp;R Block","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#\/schema\/person\/91512e91ae00a37478a4f91b90022449","name":"Elyce Luegers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f00afad2c139e11049696685997b274ab85ac39af90c8f8bc5497183b023f35c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f00afad2c139e11049696685997b274ab85ac39af90c8f8bc5497183b023f35c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f00afad2c139e11049696685997b274ab85ac39af90c8f8bc5497183b023f35c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elyce Luegers"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/605"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38411\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}