With respect to individual taxpayers, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division (CID) is charged with investigating people who have committed federal tax crimes, gathering evidence, and referring those individuals to the Department of Justice – Tax Division for prosecution. CID receives tips from a variety of sources including civil side referrals (when revenue officers or agents detect fraud), whistleblowers, local newspaper articles, and other law enforcement agencies.

Unlike the civil divisions of the IRS, an offer to pay the tax owed will not deter a special agent’s investigation. The overall goal of CID is to usher voluntary compliance among taxpayers by prosecuting and punishing those individuals who have committed wrong doing. Special agents are not confined by time limits to their investigation and have a variety of resources available to collect information for prosecution. During a criminal investigation, special agents attempt to gather as much information as possible about the target of their investigations. Follow the link below to learn more about CID Tactics.

If you have been contacted by the CID and have questions, please contact our San Diego office today.

For more information, please see:

• Criminal Tax Defense Main Page
• Visit from an IRS Special Agent
• Are You a Criminal Investigation Target?
• About IRS Criminal Investigations
• IRS Methods of Proving Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion
• Criminal Tax Attorney v. White Collar Defense Lawyers
• Criminal Investigation Division Tactics
• Tax Crimes
• Tax Crimes – Perjury