In the United States, it is the job of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to collect unpaid taxes due to the federal government. As an administrative agency, the IRS falls under the regulation of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. If you are delinquent in paying your taxes, chances are a person called an Internal Revenue Officer, or Revenue Officer for short, will be trying to contact you.
Modernly, Revenue Officers are often identified and referred to as Tax Collectors, though this form of address is unofficial. Revenue Officers do much more than collect payments; in fact, they are often used to help delinquent tax payers find solutions to their tax problems. While performing their duties, Revenue Officers must act as investigators, financial planners, negotiators, problem solvers, counselors, and collectors of taxes.
Even though Revenue Officers are used to enforce certain aspects of tax law, they are not considered law enforcement officers, but their job is far from being considered a “desk job. They do not carry weapons, make arrests, or even have the luxury of partners or back up. Most often, a Revenue Officer will work long hours alone, going around meeting delinquent tax payers. The job of the Revenue Officer does come with some risks. Revenue Officers are often in contact with members of the public who find themselves in delicate and sometimes desperate points in their lives.
Revenue Officers are not the first line of contact made with delinquent tax payers, and if a Revenue Officer is assigned a case, then that means that a Contact Representative has already made several telephonic attempts to reach the delinquent tax payer to resolve the issue.
Revenue Officers, after receiving extensive class room training on all aspects of tax law and IRS procedure will be assigned to a senior Revenue Officer for on the job training. This is one of the times where one Revenue Officer will work with another. After on the job training is complete, entry-level Revenue Officers will normally handle cases of lower amounts (such as the taxes of individuals). When enough expertise in the career field has been gained, many Revenue Officers will specialize in a specific aspect of tax collection, such as real estate, construction, major corporations, international corporations, etc. Revenue Officers have much power and authority granted to them in order to enforce the collection of taxes, and if a delinquent payer cannot pay the debt with cash, the Revenue Officer may be forced to seize the private property or business assets of the debtor.
Like them or not, the job of the Revenue Officer is an important and necessary function of any nation which collects taxes. They maintain a level of fairness among the tax payers and ensure that the government has enough funding to complete projects and initiate programs for the better good society.
Sources:
A Day in the Life. Internal Revenue Service.
Internal Revenue Officer. Internal Revenue Service.
Tax Examiners, Collectors, and Revenue Agents. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
