IR-2021-204, October 18, 2021 WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced that beginning October 18, the IRS's large business division will accept all taxpayer requests to meet with IRS employees using secure videoconferencing. This step extends the practice used during the pandemic to accommodate taxpayers who sought more than meeting with an IRS employee over telephone calls. "Since 2020, we advanced several measures to better interact virtually and digitally with large business taxpayers," said Nikole Flax, IRS commissioner of the Large Business and International Division (LB&I). "Our success in using these tools and the convenience and efficiency for taxpayers and their representatives convinced us that the way forward will continue to involve the use of video-teleconferencing." The new guidance, Video Meetings with LB&I Taxpayers and their Representatives PDF, requires LB&I employees to grant large business taxpayer requests for a secure video meeting with IRS-approved platforms in lieu of an in-person or telephone discussion with a compliance function. Today's announcement represents a step forward in the IRS's effort to work with taxpayers in a virtual environment, including the expanded use of secure email and the launch of a virtual reading room environment to enable large LB&I taxpayers and IRS agents to share certain privileged taxpayer documents in a read-only capacity. In addition, LB&I also launched and expanded its use of paperless processes so that cases can continue to move swiftly through examination and resolution. These efforts are aimed at continuing to improve service to meet the needs of large business taxpayers and their representatives and are a part of the IRS's ongoing commitment to find more convenient and effective ways to interact with taxpayers and the community of tax professionals. LB&I is responsible for tax administration activities for domestic and foreign businesses with a United States tax reporting requirement and assets equal to or exceeding $10 million, as well as the Global High Wealth and International Individual Compliance programs.
