- quote -

It's prudent of you to be suspicious. IRS issued a news
release today urging taxpayers not to be duped into
disclosing their personal information to people and websites
that mimic official IRS credentials.

http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=168574,00.html

Each filing season, IRS conducts questionable refund
detection programs that utilize CI staff in IRS processing
centers. IRS has a large processing center in Cincinnati,
OH (it's actually situated on the south shore of the Ohio
River in Covington, KY). These investigations typically
entail contacts with third parties, especially employers,
for verification of employment status and amounts reported
on Form W-2. During the pendency of the investigation, the
taxpayer's refund is withheld from going out.

IRS has conducted programs like this every filing season
going back 25 years or more. About 10 years ago this
program was referred to by IRS as the "Revenue Protection
Strategy" (RPS).

Prior to enactment of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act
of 1998 (RRA 98), the RPS program was conducted by IRS
personnel from non-CI offices. One of the taxpayer rights
included in RRA 98 denies IRS the authority to go directly
to third parties, such as employers, for information without
first giving the taxpayer an opportunity to get the
information and present it to IRS. Under RRA 98, IRS must
give taxpayers written 30-day advance notice that it will be
contacting a third party unless the taxpayer furnishes the
specified information within that timeframe. This provision
is codified into section 7602(c) of the Internal Revenue
Code (IRC). Section 7602(c) also requires IRS to furnish
the taxpayer a record of all third-party contacts. RRA 98
excepted CI from these section 7602(c) restrictions on
third-party contacts.

Historically, CI has focused its investigatory zeal on more
incorrigible and inveterate criminals like Al Capone, which
it still does but to a lesser extent than in the good old
days. Since about 1999, IRS has utilized its CI resources
to conduct the annual questionable refund ("pre-refund" is
more accurate) detection program in order to avoid RRA 98's
inconvenient and burdensome third-party contact
restrictions.

If the program discussed above sounds like it describes the
CI inquiry you received it's probably genuine and
legitimate.

Frederick Lorca

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- quote -

Harlan, I tend to agree with you, as we get closer to 4/15
more scammers are surfacing, working the paranoia potential
of certain segments of society.

http://www.irs.gov/compliance/enforc...121259,00.html

If your local office or 1-800-829-1040 should be able to
verify the status of a taxpayers account being in good
standing, No Balances due, All returns due are filed, No
open Audit indicators.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

clj1219[at]bellsouth.net wrote:

- quote -

While having no direct information to answer your main
query, Carol, this IS interesting. I would think that CID
people (who carry a badge AND a gun) are out in the field,
knocking on doors and interviewing in real time, not by
'correspondence audit.'

However if the Cincinnati office has the case, their
tentacles might conceivably stretch to other parts of the
country to elicit information.

Let us know what you find out. Meanwhile maybe Fred can add
some comments.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

If anyone has knowledge of procedures used by the CI
division of the IRS/US Treasury, would you please e-mail me.
I have some specific questions relating to how requests for
information are made.

If anyone knows where some of the offices of the CI division
are located, please e-mail me. I have a particular one I
need to verify. If you know how to verify a location, please
let me know.

As a general question, would an investigation be conducted
by an office other than the local service center--IOW, would
an investigation regarding a person residing in North
Carolina be conducted by a CI office in Ohio?

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >