One item that taxpayers always get a little confused on is the difference between and IRS Revenue Agent and a Revenue Officer. The two are quite distinct despite the similarities in title. If you are dealing with tax debt, your case may be assigned to a Revenue Officer (RO) at some point. This post will help you understand the difference between the two positions.

Job Description & Duties
Revenue Agents primarily work for the Examination Division. Their job is to conduct tax audits of individuals and businesses as well as trusts and non-profit organizations. Revenue Agents generally conduct tax audits of the most complicated tax returns ranging from small “Schedule C” businesses to the largest multi-national corporations. They are also assigned to the IRS’ Offshore Voluntary Compliance Program to determine whether the failure to file a Form TDF 9-22.1, Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) and will be subject to FBAR penalties.

ROs on the other hand work for the Collection Division. Their job is to collect money, or more precisely, collect all that is available. In this post, we go into great depth about the entire collection process and where the RO fits into it.  ROs are assigned to the most difficult IRS tax debt cases. Those individuals or business whom the IRS has been unable to collect from through letters, phone calls and tax levies and garnishments generated by IRS computers are generally assigned to a RO after a period of time.

Qualifications
Revenue Agents have a college degree and are highly trained in all aspects of auditing, tax law, research, and report writing. The minimum requirement for the job generally includes having a bachelor’s degree or higher in accounting from an accredited college or university that included at least 30 semester hours in accounting.  While Revenue Agents are not required to be CPAs, a few of them are.

ROs also must have a have a college degree, but the requirements are different. A RO can have a bachelor of Fine Arts and be qualified for the job. This is why ROs initially engage in months of training and then weeks of training on an on-going basis. It’s no surprise that when it comes to the best ROs, the IRS has a lot of money and time invested in them.

Interested in a job in either role? Check out this additional info from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Interesting Facts About Revenue Officers

• A RO doesn’t carry a badge. If someone flashes a gold badge and says they are from the IRS, that’s not a RO. That is an agent form the IRS Criminal Investigation Division (CID). This means that you are being investigated for a criminal matter and you need to reach out to an attorney! These cases may include tax evasion, fraudulent tax returns, large failure-to-file cases, money laundering, and false documents or statements submitted to the IRS under the penalties of perjury.
• A RO cannot arrest you. If any CPA, attorney or enrolled agent tells you they can stop a RO from arresting you, find a new professional! ROs have no arresting authority. All a RO can do is make a “referral” to the CID. This means they lay out the facts why they think you should be arrested. Referrals are made when they align with the types of cases mentioned above and the CID only accepts a fraction of them.
• A RO isn’t graded on how much money they collect. A RO does not get promoted for bringing in the most money. But rather, how many cases they successfully remove from their “inventory” of collections matters. A RO would rather you enter into a resolution option like an offer in compromise today, than be sandbagged for 2 years, even though you wind up paying in full.
• A RO MUST attempt initial contact in person. Everyone thinks their RO is a total jerk for showing up, unannounced, to make first contact with a taxpayer. But little do most taxpayers know that Internal Revenue Manual Section 5.1.10.3 (Initial Contact) requires that they make first contact with a taxpayer in person. You may not have been home the first time they showed up, so if you are wondering why someone from the IRS left a card for you at your home or on your car, don’t ignore it. There will be further contact!
• Many ROs are friendly and reasonable. Most employees working for the IRS are normal, hard working folks like you and I. They go to work, attempt to do a good job and then head home to relax just like we do. Thus, understand that they want to close your case and they need your help to do so. They will not “go away” if you ignore them and neither will your problem (it will just get shifted to another part of the process).

Needless to say, if you are uncomfortable dealing with an RO or simply don’t want to talk to them, then give us a call. We’d be happy to talk to them on your behalf and help you (and them) make your tax matter a thing of the past!