What Is the IRS Email Address? Scams, Phishing, and Safe Contact

The IRS email address available to the public is phishing@irs.gov, and it exists for one purpose only: reporting scam emails, texts, and messages that impersonate the agency. The IRS does not offer an email address for asking tax questions, filing returns, sending documents, or resolving account issues. If you need to actually reach the IRS, that happens by phone, mail, in-person appointment, or through your online account at IRS.gov.

Why There’s No General IRS Email

Email is easy to fake, and the IRS treats it as an untrusted channel for that reason. Real IRS contact about audits, unpaid balances, or collection activity starts with a letter through the postal service.¹ The agency will never send an unsolicited email asking for your Social Security number, bank account details, passwords, or PINs.² Any message like that is a scam, no matter how official the logo or the sender name looks.

Even in the narrow situations where an IRS employee does email a taxpayer, those messages carry only general information. The IRS specifically warns against sending sensitive personal data back to the agency through unsecured email.²

The One Exception: Encrypted Email With an Assigned Agent

If you’re already working with a specific IRS employee on an open case, encrypted email is an option through October 31, 2026. This applies during audits, collection activities, appeals, and interactions with the Taxpayer Advocate Service.³

The exchange doesn’t start with an email out of the blue. The IRS employee calls you first to verify your identity and get your consent. You then send a confirmation email to that employee’s IRS address containing a specific consent statement. Legitimate IRS employee email addresses always follow the format employee.name@irs.gov.³ Anything from a different domain claiming to be the IRS is fraudulent.

One practical detail: if you reply directly to an encrypted IRS email through the secure webpage, your reply and any attachments are encrypted automatically. If you instead start a new email to the agent from your own email app, you need to encrypt and password-protect the attachments yourself, and send the password by phone rather than by email.³

How to Report a Scam Email to phishing@irs.gov

Most people looking up the IRS email address arrive at phishing@irs.gov, and most of them get there because they’ve received something suspicious. The IRS ranked email and text impersonation as the top threat on its 2026 Dirty Dozen list, noting that many phishing emails now include QR codes pointing to fake IRS sites built to harvest personal information.⁴

To report a scam email, forward it to phishing@irs.gov. The best method is to save the email as a file and attach it to a new message, or use your email provider’s “forward as attachment” option. Both approaches preserve the email headers, which contain technical data the IRS uses to track down the sender. A plain forward works too, though it strips some of that data. Put “IRS” in the subject line for IRS-related scams, or “Treasury” for Treasury Department scams.⁵

Don’t reply to the scam email, don’t click any links, and don’t open any attachments. Once you’ve forwarded it, delete the original.

Reporting a Scam Text

Text messages get reported in two places. First, forward the message to 7726, which spells SPAM on your keypad and helps your wireless carrier block similar messages. Then send the details to phishing@irs.gov with “Text” in the subject line: the sender’s phone number, the message contents, your phone number, and the date, time, and time zone you received it.⁵ Delete the text after reporting.

How to Spot a Fake IRS Email

The recurring warning signs across IRS phishing emails:

Urgent threats of arrest, lawsuits, or immediate payment demands. Real IRS contact gives you time to respond and doesn’t threaten you by email.
Requests for your Social Security number, bank routing number, or credit card details.
Generic greetings like “Dear Taxpayer” or “Dear Customer” instead of your name.
Links or QR codes pointing to URLs that don’t clearly end in irs.gov.
Refund bait: a message claiming you’re owed money and need to click a link to claim it.

Tax professionals see a targeted version of the same problem, with fake “new client” emails and document requests designed to install malware or steal client data.⁴ Unexpected new-client emails with attachments deserve extra scrutiny before you open anything.

If You Already Clicked or Shared Information

If you clicked a link, shared personal information, or sent money before recognizing the scam, stop interacting with the sender and run antivirus software on any device where you clicked a link or opened an attachment.⁶

If you shared your Social Security number, report the identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov and follow the recovery plan it generates. Filing your tax return as early as possible helps you beat any fraudulent filing under your number.⁶ If you can’t e-file because your SSN was already used, or you receive IRS notices about income you didn’t earn, file Form 14039 (Identity Theft Affidavit).⁷ If you shared IRS online account credentials, change the password right away and don’t reuse it anywhere else.

The Right Ways to Contact the IRS

Since there’s no public email for tax questions, here’s where those questions actually go:

Individuals: 800-829-1040, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time. Wait times run long during filing season.⁸
Businesses: 800-829-4933, same hours. This line also handles EIN assignments and employment tax questions.⁹
In-person help: Taxpayer Assistance Centers, by appointment only at 844-545-5640.⁸
Mail: forms, payments, and notice responses each go to specific addresses listed on the form instructions or the notice itself.

The closest thing to an email inbox is your IRS Individual Online Account at IRS.gov. It handles over 200 types of digital notices and lets you check refund status, view returns, make payments, set up payment plans, and pull account transcripts.¹⁰ Setting it up requires identity verification through ID.me, using a photo of a driver’s license, state ID, or passport, plus a selfie or short video chat.¹¹

For sending documents the IRS has specifically requested, the Document Upload Tool is the secure route. You’ll need either an access code from your IRS notice or the notice number. Before using any link from a notice, confirm the URL contains “https” and “irs.gov.”¹² That verification habit is what protects you across every IRS interaction: real IRS web addresses end in irs.gov, real IRS employee emails end in @irs.gov, and anything else asking for your information is not the IRS.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Ways to Tell if the IRS Is Reaching Out or if It’s a Scammer
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Internal Revenue Service. IRS Privacy Guidance About Email Contact
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Internal Revenue Service. Sending and Receiving Emails Securely
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Internal Revenue Service. Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2026: IRS Reminds Taxpayers to Watch Out for Dangerous Threats
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Internal Revenue Service. Report Fake IRS, Treasury or Tax-Related Emails and Messages
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Internal Revenue Service. Identity Theft Guide for Individuals
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Internal Revenue Service. When to File an Identity Theft Affidavit
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Internal Revenue Service. Let Us Help You
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Internal Revenue Service. Telephone Assistance Contacts for Business Customers
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Internal Revenue Service. Create an IRS Individual Online Account Today for Security and Convenience
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Internal Revenue Service. How to Register for IRS Online Self-Help Tools
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Internal Revenue Service. IRS Document Upload Tool