About the IRS

If you are looking for a particular Internal Revenue Service or IRS office, you can find out how to locate the IRS office near you. Here is information about the IRS offices in Houston.

If you are looking to obtain information from the IRS, you can find out how to get information from the IRS here.

The IRS has been called the most feared agency in the United States. But who exactly is the IRS and why do they want to be feared by the taxpaying public? In this article, we’ll take a look at the history of the agency and how they operate.

If you are wanting to know how the IRS is organized and regulated, continue reading.

How the IRS is Organized

The IRS is one bureau or division of the U.S. Department of Treasury. The IRS itself is divided into four divisions. Cases often start with the first division, which is the examination division, and they will pass to the other divisions as appropriate. 

The IRS’s leadership follows this hierarchy. If you are a visual person, you can find a copy of the IRS org chart here.

As you can see on the IRS org chart, there are several other divisions that do not handle taxpayer cases directly. This includes the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility (which handles tax representative ethical violations), the Division of Online Services (which is the IRS’s IT department), etc. On this page, we focus on the IRS divisions that are likely to handle your case.

The Examination Function

The examination function’s primary mission is to determine whether taxes reported by the taxpayer are correct or if additional tax is due and owing.  If additional tax is due, the examination function assesses the taxes. Taxpayers know this function as the IRS audit function.

This function is divided into the following divisions:

1. Large Business & International (“LB&I”) – serves corporations, subchapter S corporations, and partnerships with assets greater than $10 million.
2. Small Business/Self-Employed (“SB/SE”) – serves taxpayers who file Form 1040 or 1040-SR, Schedules C, E, F or Form 2106, as well as small businesses with assets under $10 million.
3. Tax Exempt & Government Entities (“TEGE”) – serves employee plans, exempt plans, and government entities.
4. Wage and Investment (“W&I”) – serves individual wage earners.

Most audits are conducted by the SB/SE and LB&I divisions.

These examination or audit divisions employ revenue agents. The agents include field agents located across the country or at one of the ten IRS Service Centers located around the country.

These IRS service centers are where:

• Taxpayers mail their tax returns to,
• Tax returns are processed to catch obvious errors, tax return data is entered into the computer, computer matching of the items on the return with information that the IRS has received from other sources is performed, and tax returns are “scored” for audit potential,
• Tax assessments identified in reviewing the return or by audits are made,
• The notice and demand for the taxpayer to pay the taxes assessed is generated,
• The IRS processes Forms 2848 for tax representatives.

If the Service Center cannot handle the case or if the taxpayer doesn’t live near the Service Center, the case will be referred to a revenue agent in a local field office. This revenue agent will typically ask the taxpayer to come in to discuss their case and to produce certain documents. The revenue agent’s job is to review the facts, make any adjustments, and issue a revenue agent’s report. In other words, the revenue agent decides whether the IRS is going to propose tax adjustments.

During the course of the audit, the IRS agent may get advice from its in-house attorneys.

The IRS audit generally ends when the revenue agent issues a no-change letter or a notice proposing adjustments. The IRS audit may not be closed for several months following the taxpayer meeting with the revenue agent. The IRS uses a series of letters or notices which contain specific deadlines for responding (such as 15, 30 or 90 days). These letters or notices allow the IRS to move the case out of examination function.

Unfortunately, taxpayers (who are often not aware of the consequences of these deadlines) fail to respond timely and/or appropriately. This often waives certain rights that the taxpayer would otherwise be entitled to. This problem is compounded by the fact that the IRS is only required to mail these letters to the taxpayer’s last known address via registered or certified mail; it is not required to make sure that taxpayers actually receive the notices.

If you want to learn more about IRS audits, you can read about IRS audits here. If you want to get a feel for what issues the IRS audits, you can read about IRS audits here.

The IRS Appeals Function

If taxpayers happen to respond timely and appropriately to one of the IRS notices, then they might have the right to take their case to the appeals function. The appeals function also comes into play after the IRS takes certain actions to assess or collect outstanding tax liabilities and, in some instances when the taxpayer files a petition with the U.S. Tax Court. 

The appeals function is an internal process that offers a semi-independent review of IRS determinations. The official mission statement of the Office of Appeals is to:

resolve tax controversies, without litigation, on a basis which is fair and impartial to both the government and the taxpayer and in a manner that will enhance voluntary compliance and public confidence in the integrity and efficiency of the IRS.

The appeals office has the discretion to settle cases. The primary evidence that will be considered includes the taxpayer’s statements in the appeals protest and appeals conference, the taxpayer’s documentation, and the IRS’s revenue agent report. Knowledge of the applicable facts, tax law, and procedures are necessary to draft an effective protest and to make sure that the taxpayer does not inadvertently make harmful statements.

This is particularly important since the appeals office has some limited discretion to re-open previously closed issues and raise new issues for investigation. Generally, the appeals office does not reopen or raise new issues unless they are “substantial” and the “tax liability is material,” but it is possible and it does happen. Therefore, it is imperative that taxpayers be very careful when disclosing extraneous information to the appeals office.

Typically cases get to appeals by filing a protest in response to an IRS determination. In these cases, the appeals office basically makes three types of settlements: mutual concession settlements, split-issue settlements, and nuisance value settlements. Taxpayers should be familiar with each to ensure that their case is settled on the most favorable terms possible.

The appeals office also handles appeals for various collection function issues, such as Offer-in-Compromises. The offer-in-compromise is often an effective tool that can be used to resolve collection disputes with the IRS. Taxpayers often fail to submit appropriately completed or realistic offers. IRS statistics show that only a small percentage of offers are actually accepted. Unrealistic or incomplete offers will almost always be rejected.

The appeals function ends when the appeals office decides whether or not to settle a claim. This decision represents the final determination for the IRS regarding the taxpayer’s tax liability.

The IRS Collection Function

As its name implies, the collection function involves the attempts by the IRS to collect the tax that was assessed.

The IRS’s primary collection tools involve tax liens and tax levies (seizures), bank levies (seizures), and wage garnishments. The IRS also uses summons and subpoenas that require that the taxpayer deliver assets or require the taxpayer to show up and tell the IRS about specific assets. Civil and criminal penalties help ensure that taxpayers comply with these requests.

It is at this point that most taxpayers retain legal counsel. Often, an experienced tax attorney can halt the collection process by negotiating with the collection personnel or pursuing other remedies. Some of these remedies include collection due process hearings, requesting innocent spouse relief, or in some instances, filing for bankruptcy to discharge tax debts.

Only licensed attorneys can advise taxpayers as to all of these remedies. A discussion of these topics would be too lengthy for this website and should not be pursued without the counsel of an experienced tax attorney. Suffice it to say that the collection function ends when the taxpayer settles a tax liability — by paying the tax liability or by working out some other arrangement.

The Criminal Investigation Function

Cases involving tax fraud or misrepresentations may be referred to the criminal investigation function.

All other IRS functions typically stop working on cases when the criminal investigation function begins. This function is carried out by IRS special agents, who typically show up at the taxpayer’s home or business.

The aim of this function is to investigate tax crimes and make recommendations to the Department of Justice as to whether to prosecute. As with collections, most taxpayers will have already retained legal counsel at this point and it is really not necessary for me to tell you why you should not represent yourself once a criminal investigation has begun.

An experienced tax attorney might be able to help ward off this type of problem before it arises.

How the IRS is Regulated

As an agency of the Executive Branch, the IRS is controlled by the President. The Present appoints the IRS Commissioner.

Congress has delegated authority to the IRS Commissioner to assess and collect taxes. The IRS Commissioner delegates this authority to various IRS employees or functions in various delegation orders. The IRS House Oversight Committee is tasked with overseeing the IRS generally.

The IRS employees are in turn regulated by their respective IRS functions. They are supervised, evaluated and promoted or disciplined by a bureaucracy of middle and upper managers.

The individual IRS employees are guided by the IRS’s internal revenue manual, which is the IRS’s policy manual. This manual provides for now the IRS operates and what rules its employees are to follow. For example, the IRM describes the IRS’s summons powers and its ten deadly sins policy.

We Help With IRS Problems

We are experienced tax attorneys located in Houston, Texas. We help clients with IRS problems.

Please call us at (713) 909-4906 or schedule an appointment to see how we can help with your IRS problem.