How Aggressive Are IRS Collections Today?

How likely are you to be audited or levied this year?  I cannot give you “odds” on the IRS pursuing you.  It depends on how much you owe, how old the tax is, how much your tax return deviates from prior years, your occupation and other factors.

 

However, I can state that the IRS has not slowed down in collections.  In fact a recent study shows that the use of liens (up by 45%) and levies (up by 37%) increased in 2009.  This only refers to liens and levies issued by the Automated Collection System.  Audits and cases being worked by an individual Revenue Officer almost always result in liens being filed and many times in levies being issued.  However, even with these increases there was a decline in dollars collected.

 

Audits also increased in 2009.  In addition, the “dollar yield per hour spent” increased for all types of returns examined.  About 71% of the exams were by correspondence because face-to-face exams are more time consuming.  However, these types of exams generally produced more revenue for the IRS.

 

Another indication of collection activity is that the number of Collection Field function revenue officers increased by 11% in 2009.  There were also increases in the number of revenue agents and tax compliance officers.  The IRS is planning to increase these numbers even more in 2010.

 

Therefore, I can foresee an even greater increase in collection activity in the future.  If you owe taxes, the best thing to do is to be proactive and approach the IRS to resolve your taxes before they come after you.