This article was published by the IRS.

The IRS has ended most unannounced visits to taxpayers by revenue officers.

Ending unannounced visits to taxpayers will increase confidence in IRS's tax administration work and improve overall safety for taxpayers and IRS employees. Fraudsters bombarding taxpayers by mail, by phone, and in person increased confusion about home visits by revenue officers.

What taxpayers can expect:

* In place of the unannounced visits, revenue officers will instead contact taxpayers through an appointment letter, known as a 725-B, and schedule a meeting.

* Taxpayers whose cases are assigned to a revenue officer will now be able to schedule face-to-face meetings at a set place and time, allowing taxpayers to gather the necessary information and documents before the meeting to help reach resolution of their cases more quickly.

* The IRS is updating IRS.gov and internal guidance to conform to this policy.

There will still be extremely limited situations where unannounced visits will occur:

These rare instances include service of summonses and subpoenas; and sensitive enforcement activities involving seizure of assets, especially those at risk of being placed beyond the reach of the government.

Know how the IRS contacts taxpayers

The IRS will never contact taxpayers by text messages or social media to request personal or financial information. Under certain temporary policies, the IRS may correspond with taxpayers by email, but only after discussing such contact directly with the taxpayer and getting consent. For more details on these situations, taxpayers should visit IRS.gov/usingemail.

Taxpayers can get answers to tax questions by:

* Using the Interactive Tax Assistant, which asks the taxpayer a series of questions and provides answers based on their input.

* Checking out Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax (For Individuals), which covers a broad range of topics and updates on tax law changes.

* Visiting the IRS Tax Map to find tax information on a variety of tax topics.

* Visiting IRS.gov for info about what to do when a letter from the IRS arrives.

* Viewing Publication 5136, IRS Services Guide, for additional ways taxpayers and tax professionals can get help.