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IRS Special Agent Showed Up at My Door – What Do I Do?
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The knock at your door isn’t the beginning of an IRS criminal investigation. It’s the end. By the time a special agent shows up at your home, you’ve likely been under investigation for one to two years without knowing it. They’ve already subpoenaed your bank records. They’ve already interviewed your business associates. They’ve already analyzed your financial documents. The special agent at your door isn’t there to start building a case. They’re there to close it – by getting you to talk.
Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our goal is to give you the information that could save you from federal prison – because most people make catastrophic mistakes in the first five minutes after that knock. Todd Spodek has represented clients facing IRS criminal investigations for years, and what we’ve learned is brutal: the people who go to prison are almost always the ones who talked before calling a lawyer. The IRS Criminal Investigation division maintains a conviction rate above 90%. That’s not a typo. Nine out of ten people they prosecute go to prison. The only ones who don’t are the ones who knew to stay silent.
This isn’t legal advice for your specific situation. But it is the truth about how IRS criminal investigations work – the truth that special agents hope you never learn before they show up at your door. If you’re reading this because an agent just left their card, stop reading and call us immediately at 212-300-5196. Everything else can wait.
Why They’re Really at Your Door
Heres the part nobody tells you. IRS Criminal Investigation doesnt knock on doors to ask questions. They knock on doors to confirm what they already know.
An IRS criminal investigation typicaly runs 12 to 24 months before any contact with the target. During that time, special agents devote between 1,000 and 2,000 staff hours to your case. Thats not a number I made up – thats from former IRS agents describing how these investigations actualy work. For one to two years, while your going about your life, a team of federal agents is quietly assembling the pieces needed to prosecute you.
They summon your bank records. They interview your accountant, your business partners, your employees. They analyze years of financial data. They recover deleted files from computers. They piece together exactly what happened, when it happened, and how much money was involved. All of this happens in complete silence. You have no idea its happening.
Then one day, theres a knock at your door.
The special agent isnt there becuase they need more information. There there becuase they have almost everything they need – and the one thing missing is your own words confirming what they already beleive. They want you to talk becuase your own statements are the final piece that makes the case unbeatable.
Think about what this means. By the time you open that door, the investigation is basicly complete. The agent showing up is like a prosecutor who already has the evidence and just needs the defendant to confess. Thats the situation your in. And most people, not knowing this, start talking.
What Special Agents Actually Are
Heres something that suprises most people: IRS special agents are not auditors. There not revenue officers. There federal law enforcement agents with badges, guns, and arrest powers.
IRS Criminal Investigation special agents are the only armed employees of the Internal Revenue Service. Let that sink in. Out of the entire IRS – tens of thousands of employees – only special agents carry firearms. Thats becuase there job isnt collecting taxes. There job is putting people in federal prison.
Special agents are trained in building-entry tactics, surveillance, undercover operations, and interrogation techniques. They execute search warrants. They make arrests. They work with federal prosecutors to build criminal cases. When one shows up at your door, your not dealing with a bureaucrat who wants to talk about your return. Your dealing with someone whose career is measured by convictions.
And heres the part that trips everyone up: they travel in pairs. When two agents show up, one conducts the interview while the other takes notes. Those notes become witness testimony in court. Everything you say is being recorded – not on tape necessarily, but in real-time written documentation that will be used against you at trial.
The agents will seem friendly. Professional. Reasonable. They might say things like “we just want to clear this up” or “if you didnt do anything wrong, this will be quick.” Dont fall for it. There entire job is to seem approachable while gathering evidence. The friendlier they seem, the more dangerous the conversation.
Todd Spodek has reviewed hundreds of cases were clients talked to special agents. In almost every case, the client thought they were helping themselves. In almost every case, they were sealing there own conviction.
The Three Words That Save You
When an IRS special agent shows up at your door, there are only three words you need to say: “I want an attorney.”
Under IRS procedure, special agents must “immediatly terminate the interview” if you invoke your right to counsel. Thats not my interpretation – thats there own internal manual. The moment you say you want a lawyer, they have to stop. They cannot continue questioning you. They cannot pressure you. They have to leave.
But heres the thing: they only have to stop if you actualy say it. If you just seem uncomfortable, they can keep going. If you hedge and say “maybe I should talk to someone,” they can keep going. If you ask them questions instead of invoking your rights, they can keep going. You have to clearly and unambiguously state that you want an attorney.
Why does this matter so much? Becuase the Fifth Amendment protects you from self-incrimination. You cannot be compelled to answer questions that might incriminate you. But this protection only works if you invoke it. If you voluntarily start talking, your waiving that protection. Everything you say becomes fair game.
Heres the uncomfortable truth most people dont understand: your silence cannot be used against you in court, but your words absolutly can. If you stay silent and hire a lawyer, the prosecution cannot tell the jury “he refused to talk, so he must be guilty.” Thats not allowed. But if you talk and say something incriminating – even accidentaly – that statement comes into evidence and destroys your defense.
The calculus is simple. Talking has enormous downside risk and almost no upside. Silence has no downside risk and preserves all your options. The choice should be obvious.
What Happens If You Talk
Let me explain exactly how talking to special agents destroys cases, becuase most people dont understand the mechanics.
Special agents are trained to ask questions in ways designed to create contradictions. They already have your bank records. They already have witness statements. They already know what they think happened. When they ask you a question, there not looking for information – there looking for you to say something that contradicts what they already have.
Say they ask about a specific deposit from three years ago. You dont remember it clearly, so you guess. Your guess contradicts the bank records. Now the prosecution has evidence of “false statements” – a seperate federal crime with its own prison time. You didnt lie intentionaly. You just couldnt remember something from years ago. Dosent matter. The contradiction becomes evidence of consciousness of guilt.
Or say they ask if youve ever taken cash payments without reporting them. You say no, becuase you genuinly beleive thats true. But they have a witness – an employee, a customer, someone – who says otherwise. Now your statement isnt just wrong, its proof that your willing to lie to federal agents. That turns a tax case into an obstruction case.
Heres the cruelest part: agents dont have to tell you the truth. They can say “we already know everything, we just need to hear your side.” They can imply that cooperation will help you when it actualy wont. They can suggest that other people have already implicated you, wheather thats true or not. There allowed to use deception. Your not.
If you lie to an IRS special agent, thats a federal felony under 18 USC 1001. Up to five years in prison – and thats on top of whatever tax charges there investigating. But if they lie to you during the investigation? Thats just investigative technique. The rules are completly asymetrical.
At Spodek Law Group, weve seen cases were clients went from “potential target” to “definite conviction” in a single conversation. One wrong answer. One bad memory. One statement that contradicted documents the client had forgotten about. Thats all it takes.
The Witness Trap
Heres a scenario that destroys people who think there safe: the special agent says there investigating someone else.
Maybe its your business partner. Maybe its a client. Maybe its someone you did a few transactions with years ago. The agent explains that your not the target – they just want to ask you some questions about this other person. Your just a witness. Nothing to worry about.
This is one of the most dangerous situations you can be in.
First, witnesses become targets constantly. The agent says your a witness today. But if you say something during the interview that implicates you, you become a target tomorrow. There is no rule that says they have to warn you when your status changes. One moment your helping with there investigation, the next moment your the investigation.
Second, everything you say as a “witness” is still evidence. If you describe transactions, business practices, or financial arrangements, those descriptions can be used in any case – including a case against you. There is no witness privilege that protects your statements.
Third, and this is critical: if you provide information about someone else, and that information is wrong, you could be charged with making false statements. Even as a witness. Even when your trying to help. If your recollection is different from the documents, your in trouble.
Todd Spodek tells every client the same thing: it dosent matter what the agent says about who there investigating. Your response is the same. “I want an attorney.” No exceptions. No matter how innocent it seems.
How to Verify Its Really the IRS
Before we go further, you need to know how to verify that the person at your door is actualy an IRS special agent – and not someone impersonating one.
Real IRS Criminal Investigation special agents carry two forms of identification. The first is a pocket commission – essentially there badge. The second is an HSPD-12 card, which is a standard government ID for federal employees. You can ask to see both.
But heres the thing: even if there identification checks out, you should still verify independently. The IRS has an online Employee Verification Tool were you can confirm that the person works for IRS Criminal Investigation. Take there card, close the door, and check before you do anything else.
Why does this matter? Becuase IRS impersonation scams are extremly common. Scammers call, email, and even show up at doors pretending to be from the IRS. They threaten arrest if you dont pay immediately. They demand gift cards or wire transfers. Real IRS agents never do any of this.
But heres the uncomfortable reality: if it IS a real special agent, that verification process also buys you time. Time to call an attorney. Time to collect yourself. Time to remember that you dont have to answer any questions. Taking there card and closing the door to “verify there identity” is a perfectly legitimate response – and it gives you the space to make smart decisions instead of panicked ones.
What Celebrities Learned the Hard Way
If you think your to small for the IRS to bother with, consider the cases they actualy prosecute.
Wesley Snipes earned $38 million between 1999 and 2006. He didnt file a single tax return. He listened to people who told him he didnt have to pay taxes. The IRS Criminal Investigation division spent years building the case. Snipes went to prison for three years.
Todd Chrisley – the reality TV star – was convicted on all counts of tax fraud in 2022. He was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison. His wife got seven years. The prosecution said they “defrauded financial institutions and the Federal Government through tax evasion.” Celebrity status didnt help.
Richard Hatch won the first season of Survivor and recieved $1 million. He didnt report it. He went to prison for 51 months.
And then theres the most famous example of all. Al Capone ran organized crime in Chicago during Prohibition. Murder, racketeering, bootlegging – they couldnt make any of it stick. But the IRS could prove he didnt pay taxes on his income. In 1931, Capone was sentenced to 11 years for tax evasion. When everything else failed, taxes brought him down.
Leona Helmsley – the hotel magnate known as the “Queen of Mean” – was convicted in the late 1980s for evading $1.2 million in taxes. She famously said “only the little people pay taxes.” The IRS proved otherwise. She served four years in federal prison.
The point of these examples isnt to scare you. Its to show you that IRS Criminal Investigation takes every case seriously. They dont investigate cases they cant win. They dont show up at doors unless there confident in the outcome. The celebrities who went to prison made the same mistake most people make – they underestimated how thorough the investigation was before it became visible.
The IRS CI division processes about 2,500 criminal investigations per year. They have roughly 2,000 special agents nationwide. There not investigating everyone – there investigating cases they can win. And with a 90% conviction rate, there winning almost all of them.
If a special agent is at your door, you are not a small case they’ll forget about. You are a case theyve already spent a year preparing to prosecute.
What to Do Right Now
If an IRS special agent has shown up at your door – or left a card – heres exactly what to do.
First, say nothing. Nothing. Not “I didnt do anything wrong.” Not “what is this about?” Not “let me just explain.” Nothing except “I want to speak with an attorney before answering any questions.” Then close the door.
Second, take there business card if offered. You want to know who your dealing with. But do not engage beyond that. Do not answer “just a few quick questions.” Do not try to seem cooperative. Take the card, state that you want an attorney, close the door.
Third, call a criminal tax attorney immediatly. Not a CPA. Not a regular tax preparer. Not a civil attorney who “handles some tax stuff.” You need someone who specializes in IRS criminal investigations. This is federal criminal defense, not tax preparation.
Fourth, do not talk to anyone else about the situation. Not your accountant. Not your business partner. Not your spouse, if they might be called as a witness. Attorney-client privilege protects conversations with your lawyer. Nothing else is protected. If you discuss the case with anyone else, they can be subpoenaed to testify about what you said.
Fifth, do not destroy any documents. This is absolutly critical. The moment you know theres an investigation, destroying documents becomes obstruction of justice – a seperate federal crime. Even if the documents are damaging, destroying them makes everything worse. Do not delete emails. Do not shred papers. Do not wipe computers. Leave everything exactly as it is.
Sixth, write down everything you remember about the interaction while its fresh. What did the agent say exactly? What questions did they ask? Did they mention anyone elses name? Did they say what there investigating? This information will be invaluable to your attorney. But only share it with your attorney – no one else.
Seventh, prepare yourself mentaly for what comes next. If special agents are at your door, this isnt going away. There will be more contact – from your lawyer to the agents, from prosecutors to your lawyer. There may be a grand jury. There may be indictment. There may be trial. The sooner you accept that this is a serious situation requiring serious defense, the better your outcomes will be.
The worst thing you can do is hope it goes away. It wont. The IRS has already invested years into your case. They dont walk away. Your only option is to mount a real defense – starting with not giving them any more ammunition.
Spodek Law Group is located in the Woolworth Building at 233 Broadway in Manhattan. We handle federal criminal tax investigations nationwide. If an IRS special agent has contacted you, call us at 212-300-5196. The consultation is free. The mistake of waiting isnt.
Remember: that 90% conviction rate means they almost always win. The only question is wheather youll be one of the few who fights smart – or one of the many who talked themselves into prison.