The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is hiring armed special agents who are willing to use “deadly force” and conduct “surveillance” in all 50 states and U.S. territories, according to a job posting on the agency’s website.
The special agents will be part of the Criminal Investigation Division, described as the agency’s “law enforcement” branch, which is designed to combine “accounting skills with law enforcement skills to investigate financial crimes.”
The “major duties” of the job include a willingness to participate in “dangerous assignments” and “life-threatening situations.”
“Carry a firearm; must be prepared to protect him/herself or others from physical attacks at any time and without warning and use firearms in life-threatening situations; must be willing to use force up to and including the use of deadly force,” the IRS website’s job description states.
USAJOBS.gov expands on the job’s duties, which includes conducting or participating in “surveillance, armed escorts, dignitary protection, undercover operations, execution of search and arrest warrants, seizures, etc.”
IRS special agents must also be willing to “carry/use a firearm,” the website reiterates.
“Maintaining firearm proficiency is mandatory,” it states. “Ineligible for this position if ever convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, unless pardoned or conviction was expunged/set aside.”
The IRS is offering $52,921 – $94,228 per year to special agents. There are currently more than 350 positions available.
For years, the IRS has run a recruitment program called the Adrian Project targeting high school and college students. During the program, participants are given tactical vests and fake guns to carry out mock arrests of individuals wanted for tax-related crimes.
Dixie State University in Utah hosted the program, which allowed students to experience arresting a man wanted for tax evasion. In one scenario presented to the students, IRS special agents targeted a small business owner of a landscaping company.
According to IRS data, more than half of the audits performed in 2021 targeted taxpayers making less than $75,000 per year, as reported by The Washington Post. Additionally, over 40 percent of audits were aimed at taxpayers who received the earned income tax credit, which is a measure to help reduce poverty.
