In order to reduce the likelihood of an IRS employee getting harassed, threatened, or harmed, the Internal Revenue Service has decided to remove the first names of IRS employees on correspondences sent out to taxpayers. Although the first name will no longer be there, the last name and phone number of the employee will still be in its correspondences.
Overview
A report that was released last week by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration(TIGTA) revealed that during the year of 2022, several IRS employees with their first and last name on documents were reporting that they were being contacted in ways that aren’t considered normal business methods. Some of these methods included reaching out to the employee on their personal telephone line or sliding into their DM’s on social media. “TIGTA is concerned that taxpayers and anti-government or anti-tax groups with malevolent intent may use the internet or social media to track down and identify IRS employees, their families, their homes, and personal information to threaten, intimidate, or locate them for physical violence,” said the report.
Security Measures
The IRS has decided to move forward with this strategy because the $80 billion in funding that the agency has received under the Inflation Reduction Act has not yet been used for any employee security measures. According to the TIGTA report, there are employee vulnerabilities at a lot of IRS facilities that have yet to be addressed.
TIGTA Data
TIGTA also conducted an anonymous survey that included roughly 35 professionals that work at the IRS and sign correspondences with their first and last names. Out of these 35 professionals, roughly 35% of them said they have been contacted by taxpayers using avenues that aren’t normal business methods. However, none of these professionals said these contacts resulted in threats or harm to them or any of their loved ones.
Recommendations
After conducting the report, TIGTA now recommends that the IRS revise their correspondence signatures and remove the first name of the employee. Instead, TIGTA recommended the agency replace it with Mr., Ms., or just the employee’s position and last name.
Wrap Up
The IRS has agreed with all of these recommendations and announced that they plan to have all correspondences correctly revised by June of 2023. The IRS also stated that it takes the safety and health of it’s employees and their families very seriously.