Fair Tax Collection Practices: The Rules IRS Collectors Must Follow Under IRC 6304

Private debt collectors have the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The IRS has IRC 6304. Congress added it in 1998, and it borrows much of the same thinking: when a collector may contact you, who they must go through and what conduct crosses the line.

It is short, it is specific and every Revenue Officer is trained on it. Here is what it says and how the IRM puts it into practice.

When and where the IRS may contact you

IRC 6304(a) says that without your prior consent given directly to the IRS, or the express permission of a court, the IRS may not communicate with you in connection with collecting unpaid tax at any unusual time or place, or at a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to you.

The statute supplies a default. Absent knowledge of circumstances to the contrary, the IRS shall assume the convenient time to communicate is after 8 a.m. and before 9 p.m., local time at your location. IRM 5.1.10.6.1 (rev. 2025-04-24) tells employees they can generally assume it is convenient to contact a taxpayer between those hours Monday through Friday unless there is reason to know otherwise.

If you work nights, or a certain time or place is a problem, tell the employee. Once they know, the statute's should be known standard applies.

Your workplace

IRC 6304(a)(3) bars contact at your place of employment if the IRS knows or has reason to know your employer prohibits you from receiving such communications. IRM 5.1.10.6.1 restates it as contacting the taxpayer at work if there is reason to believe the employer does not allow such contact.

Again, the trigger is knowledge. If your employer does not permit personal calls at work, say so, in writing if possible.

Your representative

IRC 6304(a)(2) is the rule most often tested. If the IRS knows you are represented by a person authorized to practice before the IRS on that unpaid tax, and knows or can readily find that person's name and address, it may not communicate with you directly, unless the representative fails to respond within a reasonable period or consents to direct contact.

IRM 5.1.10.6.1 adds practical details. Contacting a taxpayer to update or validate representation when not all periods are on the Form 2848 is not a violation, but the officer may not use that contact to conduct the initial interview or ask about ability to pay unless the taxpayer withdraws representation.

If a represented taxpayer initiates contact and expresses a specific desire to work directly with the IRS, the IRM allows the officer to work the issue without the representative and requires that intent to be documented. If the issue is not resolved, the officer must not attempt further contacts with the taxpayer unless representation is withdrawn.

My advice: if you have a representative, let them do the talking. Calling the Revenue Officer yourself can open a door you may not want open.

Harassment and abuse

IRC 6304(b) says the IRS may not engage in any conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress or abuse any person in connection with collecting unpaid tax. It lists four specific violations:

• The use or threat of use of violence or other criminal means to harm the physical person, reputation or property of any person.
• The use of obscene or profane language, or language the natural consequence of which is to abuse the hearer or reader.
• Causing a telephone to ring or engaging someone in conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse or harass.
• Placing telephone calls without meaningful disclosure of the caller's identity, except under rules similar to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act's location-information rule.

IRM 5.1.10.6.4 restates those same four violations for Revenue Officers and ties them to IRS Policy Statement 1-1, which the IRM describes as the policy not to use methods that are threatening or harassing to the public.

Notice what is not on the list. A lawful levy is not harassment. A deadline is not harassment. A Revenue Officer telling you what enforcement will follow if you miss a deadline is required by IRM 5.1.10.3.2. The statute targets conduct, not consequences.

Field visits and private property

The IRM adds physical-world rules for Revenue Officers that complement the statute. IRM 5.1.10.6.2.1 says an officer may approach a front door when making a scheduled contact, or when making an unannounced visit to deliver a summons or other document requiring personal service, even if a No Trespassing sign is posted. But if the taxpayer or a third party then tells the officer to leave, the IRM says the officer should leave.

Officers are told to enter only areas of a private residence commonly understood to be open to the public, such as the front door, porch or driveway, and to get the taxpayer's permission to access non-public areas. At gated properties, IRM 5.1.10.6.3 tells officers not to trail another car or person authorized to enter.

For businesses, IRM 5.1.10.6.2.2 says a No Trespassing sign in a public shopping area can be treated as a warning to people with no legitimate business there, but again, if the taxpayer tells the officer to leave, the officer should leave.

Consequences inside the IRS

IRM 5.1.10.6 says violations of IRC 6304 could subject the United States to a civil action by the taxpayer under IRC 7433, and could also subject IRS employees to termination for misconduct.

Managers are told to treat it seriously. IRM 1.4.50.5.2.1 (rev. 2025-04-01) says group managers must report potential violations of IRC 6304 to their local Labor Relations office by the end of the next business day following discovery.

Harassment that uses IRS procedures as a weapon also lines up with Section 1203(b)(6) of the 1998 Restructuring Act, which lists violations of the Code, regulations or IRS policies for the purpose of retaliating against or harassing a taxpayer as grounds for mandatory termination. See Section 1203: The Ten Acts That Can Get an IRS Employee Fired.

The damages claim

IRC 6304(c) points to IRC 7433. Under 7433(a), if an IRS employee, in connection with collecting federal tax, recklessly or intentionally, or by reason of negligence, disregards any provision of the Code or regulations, the taxpayer may bring a civil action for damages against the United States in federal district court.

The limits are real. Under 7433(b), damages are capped at the lesser of $1,000,000, or $100,000 in the case of negligence, or the sum of actual, direct economic damages proximately caused plus the costs of the action. Under 7433(d), a court may not award damages unless the taxpayer exhausted administrative remedies within the IRS, damages are reduced by amounts the taxpayer could reasonably have mitigated, and the action must be brought within 2 years after the right of action accrues.

That is not a lottery ticket. It is a remedy for actual economic harm, with an administrative claim required first. If you think you have one, talk to counsel early, because the two year period runs from when the right of action accrues.

Using the rule well

Most collection contact is lawful. The value of IRC 6304 is that it gives you clear lines. Tell the IRS in writing when and where contact is inconvenient. Put your representative's authorization on file. Keep a log of calls, times and what was said.

If an employee crosses a line, ask for the manager, as described in Requesting a Manager Conference, and put the facts in writing. Calm documentation does more than an angry phone call ever will.