The IRS announced Thursday that it will begin limiting staff’ personal identifying information on contacts with taxpayers in an effort to prevent threats made against them.
In a recent report, the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration expressed concerns regarding the potential misuse of the Internet and social media by taxpayers and anti-government or anti-tax groups to locate and threaten IRS employees and their families.
IRS Modifies Employee Contact Information
The IRS has responded to this concern by deciding to remove workers’ first names from communications, while still including their last names and appropriate gender-specific or gender-neutral titles. However, phone numbers will continue to be included in the communications.
This decision comes as the IRS has garnered increased attention due to the allocation of $80 billion in funding for tax collection efforts in climate, healthcare, and tax legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden last year.
Unfortunately, misinformation, including claims made by Republican lawmakers, has circulated online, falsely suggesting that 87,000 armed agents with the authority to use deadly force would be targeting taxpayers across all income levels.
Compliance With Regulations
As a result of these threats and conspiracy theories, the IRS leadership announced an extensive review of safety measures at its 600 facilities nationwide in August. The agency aims to address any increased risks faced by its employees.
The then-Commissioner Chuck Rettig, recognizing the personal nature of the threats, expressed his commitment to dispelling any misconceptions about the work of the IRS.
The newly appointed Commissioner Daniel Werfel also acknowledged the challenges but stated that there are no plans to increase hiring in the criminal investigation unit, which constitutes 3% of the agency’s workforce and employed approximately 2,077 special agents as of the 2022 budget year.
It is important to note that according to the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, contact information for IRS employees must be included in manually generated correspondence, which includes the worker’s name and phone number.
However, Kenneth Corbin, commissioner of the IRS’ wage and investment division, has assured the inspector general’s office that steps will be taken to limit the amount of personally identifiable information provided on manually generated correspondence while still maintaining compliance with the law.
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