CI pursues financial crimes like money laundering, terrorist financing, cybercrimes, and sanctions evasion—including investigating and seizing assets of Russian elites

FS-2022-18, March 2022

Introduction

IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) serves the American public by investigating potential criminal violations of the Internal Revenue Code and related financial crimes in a manner that fosters confidence in the tax system and compliance with the law. It is the only federal law enforcement agency authorized to investigate federal criminal tax violations and pursues related financial crimes, such as money laundering, currency violations, and terrorist financing. These efforts are increasingly important given emerging threats in the global financial landscape. 

General tax fraud investigations are at the core of CI’s law enforcement efforts—for example, agents expend substantial energy unpacking domestic and offshore tax avoidance strategies that are facilitated through trust and partnership arrangements. CI also investigates money laundering by criminals and criminal organizations, corruption, and broader non-tax related fraud cases. CI has the authority to seize assets that are involved in money laundering or other unlawful activities, and it is the largest law enforcement division of Treasury with this capacity. 

In recent years, CI has significantly expanded its presence in areas of emerging importance. Since 2015, it has built up a world-class cybercrimes program to address the exponential growth of cybercrimes impacting the tax, financial, and economic systems of the U.S. This group successfully seized more than $3.5 billion of illicit cryptocurrency in fiscal year 2021, and they have already seized more than this amount in fiscal year 2022.

Alongside investigating cybercriminals, CI has recently been called upon to provide its unique expertise to assist with interagency efforts to enforce sanctions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as called for in the related Kleptocapture Task Force announced by the Department of Justice. Working with law enforcement entities across government, the IRS is already in the process of investigating Russian oligarchs and those who facilitate the illegal movement of money or assets on their behalf. 

CI has experience on these dimensions: Since 2017, the IRS has been involved in more than 20 investigations directly related to illicit money laundering by oligarchs, which involved restitution of hundreds of millions of dollars paid, as well as the seizures of properties in conjunction with fellow law enforcement agencies. Typically, these investigations require IRS-CI to follow complex asset trails—any time assets are routed through United States financial systems, CI Special Agents can trace them, and they have the ability to deanonymize otherwise anonymous transactions. 

CI cyber agents have also previously been engaged in the review and investigative efforts involving cryptocurrency transactions associated with Russian-based entities for the past several months. The project, known as Sanction Evaders, is looking at blockchain transactional information associated with sanctioned countries.

Given its sizable—and growing—responsibilities, it is important to highlight that today the IRS lacks the resources it needs to fully support these efforts. Since 2010, the overall IRS budget has fallen by nearly 20 percent, resulting in a significant decrease in the agency’s enforcement functions. This impacts compliance directly and indirectly: Rather than serving as a deterrent, a more limited IRS presence serves as an incentive to ignore compliance responsibilities, from both a civil and criminal perspective. 

For CI in particular, since 2010, the number of employees has fallen by approximately 25 percent, from 4,017 in 2010 to under 3,000 today. This at a time when investigations are getting more complex, as highly sophisticated criminals are turning to new and hard-to-detect ways to hide illicit gains from our sight. 

Many of those who chose to challenge the IRS and IRS-CI have been surprised. In fact, IRS-CI has had substantial success over the course of the last several years despite being significantly under-funded. Last year, IRS-CI identified $10.4 billion from tax fraud and financial crimes and likely deterred at least an equivalent amount of such behavior, with a budget of just over $600 million. That is a direct return of more than 16:1. But this substantially understates the immensely valuable work that CI does, because having a significant IRS presence deters criminals from malfeasance. 

With additional resources, CI will be able to do much more. The IRS’s efforts in this space are imperative to helping CI target oligarchs and those who facilitate hiding their assets. More broadly, a well-funded investigations unit is critical to ensuring that the IRS has a workforce that is able to pursue the illicit behavior of highly sophisticated criminals who reap billions and billions of dollars of profits annually through complex financial crimes. 

• A snapshot of recent IRS CI work

The types of criminals pursued by IRS-CI already this year are illustrative of the breadth and importance of their efforts, as well as the sophistication of the enterprises that they work to disentangle, which are set up to ensure that the illicit behavior of wealthy criminals remains unaddressed. The following information is obtained from publicly available documents. 

Russian bank founder sentenced for evading taxes 

In 2013, when the value of Oleg Tinkov’s investment in his Russian bank’s stock rose to over $1 billion, he quickly renounced his U.S. citizenship and substantially understated his wealth on tax filings with the IRS to avoid exit taxes. Expatriation law requires that those with a net worth of more than $2 million pay taxes on their assets as if they were sold on the day before expatriation, but despite the value of his post-Initial Public Offering assets rising to above $1.1 billion, Tinkov claimed he did not have assets above $2 million. In addition, he did not report any gain from the constructive sale of his property worth more than $1.1 billion, causing a tax loss of nearly $250 million. A year after his expatriation, Tinkov was the 15th richest oligarch in Russia, with an estimated net worth of over $8 billion. 

Tinkov was indicted in September of 2019 for willfully filing false tax returns following an investigation by CI agents, and he was arrested in February 2020. As part of his restitution, Oleg Tinkov paid $508,936,184, which is more than double the amount he sought to escape paying to the U.S. Treasury through renouncing his U.S. citizenship and concealing from the IRS large stock gains, which he knew were reportable. This payment includes $248,525,339 in taxes, statutory interest on that tax, and a nearly $100 million fraud penalty. 

$1.3 billion tax shelter scheme

IRS-CI’s primary resource commitment involves the investigation of tax crimes, which constitute over 70% of investigative time by CI agents. Resources are especially focused on unpacking complex structures that facilitate abusive tax schemes by wealthy individuals and corporations. 

To take a recent example, in February 2022, a grand jury returned an indictment of seven individuals with conspiracy to defraud the United States and other crimes because of their promotion of fraudulent tax shelters involving syndicated conservation easements for at least two decades. The co-conspirators allegedly guaranteed a 4-to-1 tax deduction ratio to their clients and invoked various schemes to value easements as necessary to deliver the ratio promised. The indictment charged that these were abusive tax shelters lacking in economic substance and further contended that the defendants helped clients claim illicit charitable deductions after the conclusion of tax years through backdating documents. In total, the defendants allegedly sold over $1.3 billion in false and fraudulent tax deductions through their crimes. 

Over the course of a four-year investigation, IRS-CI agents dedicated thousands of hours to unpacking the schemes these perpetrators allegedly facilitated to help their wealthy clients skirt tax obligations. These kinds of investigations involve incredibly complicated work for the CI team, as the tax shelters are often intentionally designed to impede the ability of the IRS to detect their fraudulent nature, including through appraisals that overinflate land values and fake votes among participants meant to create the illusion that the transactions are legitimate real estate investment opportunities and not abusive tax shelters. With additional resources and investigative support, IRS-CI could reduce the investigative time and ensure that criminals are held accountable quicker. 

$3.6 billion of stolen cryptocurrency seized in FY 2021, a total already surpassed in FY 2022

Over the last several years, CI has observed significant growth in the number of criminals using the cyber environment for fraud and illicit transactions. This criminality is made possible by an underlying technological ecosystem that facilitates remaining anonymous and eluding law enforcement while concealing financial transactions, ownership of assets, or other evidence. The possibility that these technologies will be deployed to facilitate sanctions evasion is also top-of-mind for CI investigators at present.

In order to navigate this landscape, CI must deploy sophisticated blockchain analysis tools to unweave darknet transactions. For example, following the prosecution of Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht in 2015 for several criminal counts, CI agents were tasked with the persistent investigation of stolen funds from this and other dark net marketplaces. As a result of their determined and resolute action, CI agents seized approximately $1 billion of Bitcoin in 2020. Finding these funds required the efforts of several CI agents and contractors, including the use of third-party analytic tools to trace assets to individuals who had hacked Silk Road to pocket illicit gains. 

Even more recently, in February of this year, two individuals were arrested for laundering cryptocurrency stolen during a 2016 hack of a digital asset exchange. Thus far, $3.6 billion has been seized by CI agents who managed to track unauthorized transactions that sent stolen Bitcoin from this hack to digital wallets under the control of the launderers. The defendants allegedly employed numerous complex techniques to hide these funds, including automating transactions to quickly move funds and then deposit them into a variety of currency exchanges and darknet markets and withdrawing funds to break the chain of transactions and impeded detection. 

Despite this complexity, today CI currently devotes only about six percent of its investigative time to cybercrimes/crypto currency, so it is just scratching the surface of the amount of criminal activity that is being detected.

 Budget picture IRS-CI has made remarkable progress in the last several years due to the commitment of extremely talented and dedicated agents. But it has done so without the resources in place to support its efforts. Since 2010, the CI workforce has decreased in size by approximately 25 percent, as the CI budget has only been able to accommodate reduced staffing levels as we are required to pay for labor budget increases (pay raises, benefit increases, etc.) by not backfilling attrition. Figure 1: IRS CI staffing over time

The bleak budget picture has had a material impact on the ability of the CI team to pursue enforcement actions. At the end of this fiscal year, CI expects to have fewer than 3,000 employees. In order to meet its investigative needs, CI needs to grow by more than 40 percent by hiring at least 2,500 additional employees in the next five years (net gain of 1,300 after attrition). Building up the CI workforce along these dimensions would enable CI to reach its target level of criminal tax prosecution recommendations (around 1,600 per year), which would impact voluntary compliance substantially as it would deter sophisticated actors from complicated tax fraud and money laundering schemes, knowing that a larger and stronger investigative team stands ready to pursue misdeeds. 

The table below provides a breakdown of the hiring needs of the CI unit. Note that these include only the employees associated with investigations and supporting staff and not additional needs for IT and data support. IT needs include securing licenses for data access for high-risk frontier and emerging markets, which today are substantially lacking. As one example, IRS CI today has only five agents who can access Sayari, a tool that allows for access to local government databases across the world in dozens of languages and jurisdictions and will help to identify Russian-based actors who attempt to illegally evade sanctions and facilitate financial movement of funds. 

	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	FY27	NET GAIN FY23-FY27
TOTAL Starting On-Rolls:	2,995	3,295	3,575	3,835	4,078
Special Agents	2,197	2,429	2,648	2,854	3,048
Less: 5.82% Attrition*	128	141	154	166	177
Add: Hiring	360	360	360	360	360
Special Agent Total:	2,429	2,648	2,854	3,048	3,230	1,033
Professional Staff	798	866	927	982	1,031
Less: 10.29% Attrition*	82	89	95	101	106
Add: Hiring	150	150	150	150	150
Professional Staff Total:	866	927	982	1,031	1,075	276
TOTAL Ending On-Rolls:	3,295	3,575	3,835	4,078	4,305	1,310
* Based on a 10-year attrition average
Maintains a professional staff to SA ratio of 30%

Table 1: Workforce needs for CI

 Return on CI investments

Even before deterrent effects are factored in, historical analysis makes clear than at an average in $1.8 million annually in tax deficiency is identified by IRS-CI per special agent, such that the ratio of tax deficiency to labor cost is 8:1. These estimates do not consider revenue from non-tax investigations. To get a rough sense of magnitudes, consider that IRS-CI last year identified $10.4 billion from tax fraud and financial crimes, with a budget of just $636 million. That is more than a 16:1 return. Additional resources to the IRS will thus produce very significant direct gains in that more agents means fewer dollars in the hands of criminals. Beyond illicit proceeds identified, CI agents successfully worked to convict more than 1,200 sophisticated financial criminals. 

• Conclusion

IRS-CI agents have unparalleled experience in tracking how financial assets change hands and deploy state-of-the-art investigative tactics to tracing criminal behavior. Given this expertise, it is no surprise that CI has been called on to dedicate resources to the Kleptocapture task force convened to hold Russian oligarchs accountable for potential schemes to evade sanctions or launder money. These efforts fit in to CI’s broader objectives of persecuting wealthy tax evaders and financial criminals who deploy sophisticated techniques to reap billions in illicit gains each year. 

Given the magnitude of the challenge it faces, it is imperative for CI to be adequately funded to investigate and prosecute criminals. Today, it is not—the workforce of CI has shrunk by 25% over the course of the last decade, which is consistent with diminishing resources across the agency that have impeded the IRS’ ability to serve American taxpayers and enforce the law. CI, like the rest of the IRS, is in desperate need of stable, long-term funding to develop a deeper understanding of the global financial landscape and trace and seize assets that today are in the hands of criminals. This is work that the IRS is well-equipped to do—once it has the resources to do it.

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service today urged people to stay resolute against ongoing scams and schemes by properly securing computers, tablets and phones. Solid cybersecurity protection and scam recognition is vital to reduce the threat of identity theft inside and outside the tax system.

The IRS works closely with the Security Summit, a partnership with state tax agencies and the private-sector tax industry, to help protect taxpayer information and defend against identity theft. Taxpayers and tax professionals can take steps to help in this effort by doing things like minimizing cybersecurity footprints and recognizing common scams and schemes.

Below are 10 tips to help minimize exposure to fraud and identity theft:

Be aware that an unsolicited email with a request to download an attachment or click on a URL could appear to come from someone that you know like a friend, work colleague or tax professional if their email has been spoofed or compromised.

Don't assume internet advertisements, pop-up ads or emails are from reputable companies. If an ad or offer looks too good to be true, take a moment to check out the company behind it.

Never download "security" software from a pop-up ad. A pervasive ploy is a pop-up ad that indicates it has detected a virus on the computer. The download most likely will install some type of malware. Reputable security software companies do not advertise in this manner.

• Use security software. An anti-virus program should provide protection from viruses, Trojans, spyware and adware. The IRS urges everyone to use an anti-virus program and always keep it up to date. Set security software to update automatically so it can be updated as threats emerge.
• Educate those less experienced about online safety. Children and those with less online experience may not be fully aware of the perils of opening suspicious web pages, emails or documents. Teens and younger users can put themselves at risk by leaving a trail of personal information for con artists to follow.
• Back up files. No system is completely secure. Copy important files, including federal and state tax returns, onto removable discs or back-up drives and cloud storage. Store discs, drives and any paper copies in secure, locked locations.
• Know the risk of public Wi-Fi. Connection to public Wi-Fi is convenient and often free, but it may not be safe. Hackers and cybercriminals can easily steal personal information from these networks. Always use a virtual private network when connecting to public Wi-Fi.
   
• Review ID Theft Central. Designed to improve online access to information on identity theft, it serves taxpayers, tax professionals and businesses.

The IRS doesn't initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information. Generally, the IRS first mails a paper bill to a person who owes taxes. In some special situations, the IRS will call or come to a home or business.

People should be alert to scammers posing as the IRS to steal personal information. There are ways to know if it's really the IRS calling or knocking on someone's door.

Taxpayers can find answers to questions, forms and instructions and easy-to-use tools online at IRS.gov. They can use these resources to get help when it's needed at home, at work or on the go.

This news release is part of a series called the Tax Time Guide, a resource to help taxpayers file an accurate tax return. Additional help is available in Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax.

WASHINGTON –As part of a larger hiring effort underway, the Internal Revenue Service announced today plans to hire more than 200 additional technologists to help the agency further modernize its technology.

"This is an excellent opportunity to join the IRS Information Technology team and make a real difference for our tax system and the nation’s taxpayers,” said Chief Information Officer Nancy Sieger. “This is a great opportunity for people looking to further their technology careers. We have experienced teams of programmers, IT specialists and cybersecurity experts looking to further accelerate modernization efforts.”

The IRS plays a critical role in serving the nation. The agency interacts with more Americans than any other U.S. government agency, and process 96 percent of the funding for our nation’s vital programs. Modern technology is key for the IRS to provide a seamless customer experience and address the agency’s challenges and opportunities for simplifying the taxpayer’s filing experience by streamlining the process, answering as many questions as possible and reducing current inventories.

The IRS is offering entry-level positions as well as career opportunities for experienced and supervisory IT specialists in the fields of system development, architecture, engineering, cybersecurity, IT operations, network services and customer support. In addition, the IRS is seeking applicants with knowledge of cloud, zero trust security, low/no-code enterprise platforms, artificial intelligence and machine learning, or NoSQL database among other modern technologies. To learn more about IRS IT modernization and recent accomplishments, visit irs.gov/modernization.

The IRS encourages qualified candidates to apply. The first announcements for these IT positions have already been posted on usajobs.gov with additional opportunities to open in the coming weeks. Interested persons should apply today by visiting irs.usajobs.gov and using the search tool and filtering by job series 2210 – Information Technology Management.

As part of this larger IRS hiring effort, the agency announced last week plans to hire  more than 5,000 positions in its processing centers located in Austin, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Ogden, Utah.

Opportunities to work on major modernization efforts to improve taxpayer service

The IRS has undergone a significant technology transformation over the last several years as part of a large-scale enterprise modernization plan to transform the taxpayer experience, upgrade core service and enforcement systems, build a more sustainable technology infrastructure and enhance cybersecurity.

The agency is seeking to expand its pool of experts in hybrid and multi-cloud environments, no/low-code enterprise platforms and applications, data and analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, IT service management leading practices and networks management. Additional career opportunities include joining the integrated technical team modernizing the Individual Master File, the agency’s core tax processing system, and the Enterprise Case Management initiative modernizing IRS case management applications, services and associated processes. These are just some of the modernization efforts that the new hires will be working on.

Numerous benefits to joining the IRS Information Technology (IT) team

There are numerous advantages to joining IRS IT, including the opportunity to be part of the historic transformation of a complex technology infrastructure supporting the nation’s economic recovery efforts. IRS IT is responsible for technology that impacts millions of Americans. IRS IT employees were instrumental in delivering economic relief to Americans in time of need through Economic Impact Payments and advance payments of the Child Tax Credit and actively contribute to services that benefit Americans.

Positions are available around the country. IRS IT is currently in a maximum telework mode and will have a competitive telework policy going forward. The IRS is an equal opportunity employer. All employees must be U.S. citizens, pass an FBI fingerprint check and tax compliance verification, and meet the mandatory education and experience qualification requirements.

Interested individuals can apply by creating a profile at irs.usajobs.gov. For more information about the IRS as an employer, and to learn about upcoming recruitment events, and special hiring programs for students, Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities, visit IRS Careers.

Revenue Procedure 2022-17 provides: (1) two tables of limitations on depreciation deductions for owners of passenger automobiles placed in service by the taxpayer during calendar year 2022; and (2) a table of dollar amounts that must be used to determine income inclusions by lessees of passenger automobiles with a lease term beginning in calendar year 2022. The tables detailing these depreciation limitations and amounts used to determine lessee income inclusions reflect the automobile price inflation adjustments required by section 280F(d)(7). For purposes of this revenue procedure, the term “passenger automobiles” includes trucks and vans.

Revenue Procedure 2022-17 will be in IRB:  2022-13, dated March 28, 2022.

Revenue Ruling 2022-08 provides various prescribed rates for federal income tax purposes including the applicable federal interest rates, the adjusted applicable federal interest rates, the adjusted federal long-term rate, and the adjusted federal long-term tax-exempt rate. These rates are determined as prescribed by § 1274. 

The rates are published monthly for purposes of sections 42, 382, 412, 642, 1288, 1274, 7520, 7872, and various other sections of the Internal Revenue Code.

Revenue Ruling 2022-08 will be in IRB:  2022-14, dated April 4, 2022.

WASHINGTON — In an effort to provide American taxpayers with the service they deserve, the Internal Revenue Service announced today the latest expansion of its multilingual products, Braille, text, audio and large print products are now available in Spanish.

The agency’s Alternative Media Center (AMC) is converting IRS Form 1040, its main schedules and six publications in Spanish Braille and large print. This announcement highlights the agency’s commitment to make alternative format documents and multilingual resources available to those who need them.

The IRS also has a Languages webpage available in 20 languages to help taxpayers find basic tax information, such as how to check a refund status, pay taxes or file a federal tax return.

“It’s critical that the IRS provides information to people in multiple languages and formats to help them meet their tax responsibilities and receive important tax credits,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “This is another milestone in our ongoing efforts to expand our assistance to more people. I’m extremely proud of our employees’ significant efforts and strong desire to make a huge, positive difference in this area during the last several years, which has been assisted by our partners in the nation’s tax community. We are proud to continue focusing on this area.”

Additional IRS multilingual resources

Alternative media resources for blind, sight-impaired individuals
Taxpayers can download forms and instructions from the Accessible Forms and Publications page of IRS.gov or request copies by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Tax forms and publications are available in a variety of formats including:

Latest enhancement to IRS accessibility services
Taxpayers can complete Form 9000, Alternative Media Preference, to choose to receive their IRS notice or letter in Braille, large print, audio and electronic formats. Taxpayers can include the completed form with their tax return, mail it as a standalone form to the IRS or call 800-829-1040 to elect their preferred format. Form 9000 is also available in Spanish Braille and large print.

Taxpayers who have already received a notice or letter in print format and prefer Braille, large print, audio or text, and do not have an alternative media designation on file at the IRS can choose one of the options below to request their preference.

Visit the Information About the Alternative Media Center page of IRS.gov for details.

How to get answers about IRS accessibility services
If a taxpayer has questions about IRS accessibility services, they can contact the Accessibility Helpline at 833-690-0598. Help for multilingual taxpayers is also available on the helpline through the over-the-phone interpreter service. This helpline does not have access to taxpayers' IRS accounts. Those needing help with tax law, refunds or other account-related issues, should visit the Let Us Help You page on IRS.gov.

Notice 2022-13 provides a waiver of the addition to tax under section 6654 for underpayment of estimated income tax by qualifying farmers and fishermen described in the notice.  Under the notice, the addition to tax is waived for farmers and fishermen who, by April 18, 2022, or, for those taxpayers who reside in Maine or Massachusetts, by April 19, 2022, file their 2021 federal income tax return and pay in full any tax reported as due on the return.

Notice 2022-13 will be in IRB: 2022-14, dated 04/04/2022.

Announcement 2022-06 notifies taxpayers of a temporary suspension of the IRS prototype IRA opinion letter program. The announcement also advises taxpayers that, until further notice, adopters of prototype IRAs, SEPs, and SIMPLE IRA plans may rely on a previously received favorable opinion letter, and that taxpayers may use existing model forms to maintain current plans and accounts or establish new plans and accounts.
 
WILL BE IN IRB: 2022-13            DATED: March 28, 2022

WASHINGTON – As part of a Service-wide effort to help under-served communities, the Internal Revenue Service announced today that it is looking for applicants to staff a new call site in Mississippi starting this spring.

The IRS will hire approximately ten Collection Contact Representatives in Clarksdale, Miss., to staff an IRS Automated Collection System (ACS) site, where they will answer calls from taxpayers to help them resolve their tax-related issues.

“A special focus for the IRS has been to increase services and employment in under-represented communities,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “This new effort in Mississippi is designed to help people in the community as well as taxpayers needing help related to collection issues. We are proud to be working closely with federal, state and local officials to launch this new site, and we appreciate their significant assistance raising awareness about this important effort.” 

This special initiative is part of a larger project underway at the IRS to reach under-served communities. Increased IRS participation in the communities the agency serves will provide meaningful career opportunities while increasing service, raising awareness and compliance with tax laws in underrepresented communities.

Clarksdale is an initial step in the longer-term IRS effort. Job openings are for Collection Contact Representative positions. These positions deal with a full range of responsibilities in resolving issues and obtaining information relative to the tax administration process. Contact Representatives provide authoritative tax law assistance and take action where needed to resolve a taxpayer’s tax issues, often involving delinquent situations. Actions needed might include analyzing the taxpayer’s ability to pay, initiating liens and negotiating installment payment agreements.

These positions have a beginning salary range of $36,118 to $46,953 with potential for annual increases and promotions. Both English and bilingual Spanish positions are available. Qualified applicants will receive extensive training on IRS procedures to apply the tax laws and regulations with fairness, along with access and use of all necessary automated systems. Specialized or prior federal work experience is not required.

“Expanded IRS collection services will provide job opportunities in the Mississippi Delta while increasing the agency’s ability to respond to taxpayer phone inquiries,” said Darren Guillot, the IRS Small Business/Self-Employed Commissioner for Collection. “This is an important effort, and the IRS hopes this will open the door to other opportunities in other locations in the future.

Applications are being accepted through March 16. Interested individuals should apply today or as soon as possible via the following announcement on USAJOBS:

Virtual Information Sessions
The IRS Small Business/Self Employed Division will be providing virtual information sessions for individuals who would like more information about the Collection Contact Representative positions and how to apply. During these virtual sessions, Collection Contact Representatives will provide a better understanding of the work they do day-to-day. Human Resource Representatives will also attend the session to discuss the application process and some of the requirements for the positions. Interested individuals can register using the following links:

The IRS encourages people to share this job posting with friends, family or neighbors who may be interested and qualified for the positions.

More functions coming later in 2022 to help taxpayers with more complex issues 
 
WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today announced it has begun using voice and chat bots on two of its specialized toll-free telephone assistance lines and IRS.gov, enabling taxpayers with simple payment or collection notice questions to get what they need quickly and avoid waiting. Taxpayers can still speak with an IRS telephone representative if needed.
 
"Our phone lines continue to see unprecedented demand, and the IRS continues to look for ways to help people and avoid long wait times,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. "Our telephone representatives remain an important part of the service we provide, but these bots can help some people avoid lengthy phone delays for something that could be resolved on the spot. This is part of a larger effort to help people get the assistance they need this tax season."
 
The IRS in recent weeks has deployed voice and chat bots in English and Spanish for phone lines that assist taxpayers with tax payments issues or understanding an IRS notice they may have received. People with general tax season questions generally will not encounter these features at this time. The bots are now available to help taxpayers with:

• How to make One-Time Payments
• Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
• Collection Notice Clarification 

Voice bots are software powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that allow a caller to navigate an interactive voice response (IVR) system with their voice, generally using natural language. Chat bots simulate human conversation through web-based text interaction, also using AI-powered software to respond to natural language prompts. Taxpayers who request to speak with a customer service representative will be placed in queue for English or Spanish ACS telephone assistance. The IRS voice and chat bots currently provide unauthenticated services, which means they cannot provide assistance with a taxpayer’s protected account information. 
 
"Voice and chat bots interact with taxpayers in easy-to-follow ways, which means taxpayers don't have to wait on hold to handle simple tasks, said Darren Guillot, Commissioner of Small Business/Self Employed Collection at the IRS.
 
Later in 2022, IRS voice bots will also enable taxpayers to authenticate their identity to establish payment plans, request a transcript and obtain information about their accounts, such as payoff details. The IRS plans to roll out more voice and chat bots later in 2022 to assist taxpayers with more complex issues.
 
IRS toll-free telephone lines receive millions of calls a year. A customer service representative spends on average nearly 20 minutes with each taxpayer they help on a collection issue. Freeing up IRS phone assistors for taxpayers with complex collection issues who need to speak with someone is another major benefit of voice and chat bots.
 
In addition to the payment lines, voice bots helped people calling the Economic Impact Payment (EIP) toll-free line, providing general procedural responses to frequently asked questions. The IRS also added voice bots for the Advance Child Tax Credit toll-free line in February to provide similar assistance to callers who need help reconciling the credits on their 2021 tax return.
 
The IRS also reminds taxpayers about numerous other self-service options that are available.