The IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line phone number is 800-829-4933, and hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in your local time zone.1Internal Revenue Service. Telephone Assistance Contacts for Business Customers This is the line for businesses, corporations, partnerships, trusts, and estates that need help with non-individual tax matters. Alaska and Hawaii callers follow Pacific Time.
Other Ways to Reach the Line
TTY/TDD users should call 800-829-4059.
Calling from outside the United States? The toll-free number won’t work. Use the International Taxpayer Service Call Center at 267-941-1000 (not toll-free), open Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Time. International business account questions can also be faxed to 681-247-3101.2Internal Revenue Service. Contact My Local Office Internationally
If you’d rather not speak English, you don’t have to. The IRS provides free over-the-phone interpretation in more than 350 languages. Once a representative answers, ask for an interpreter in your language and one will join the call.3Internal Revenue Service. Find Tax Help in Several Languages on IRS.gov
What This Line Covers
The business and specialty line handles business master file accounts and business return questions. The IRS describes its scope as EINs, employment tax returns (the 94x series), Forms 1041, 1065, and 1120-S, excise returns, estate and gift returns, and federal tax deposit issues.1Internal Revenue Service. Telephone Assistance Contacts for Business Customers In practice, that means:
- Employment tax questions on Forms 940, 941, and 944 (Form 944 is the annual version for employers whose total employment tax liability is $1,000 or less per year).4Internal Revenue Service. About Form 944, Employer’s Annual Federal Tax Return
- EIN applications, verifications, and corrections.
- Partnership (Form 1065) and S corporation (Form 1120-S) filings.
- C corporation issues, since the line covers all corporations.
- Excise taxes, including fuel and heavy highway vehicle use taxes.
- Estate, trust, and gift matters, including Form 1041.
- Federal tax deposits, scheduling, missed-deposit penalties, and payment verification.
One boundary worth naming: individual return and personal refund questions do not belong here. For those, call 800-829-1040 instead.
What to Have Ready Before You Dial
Representatives verify your identity before discussing any account, and the call ends fast if you can’t answer the verification questions. Pull these together first:
- Your EIN. This is the single most important item. Sole proprietors without an EIN can use their Social Security Number or ITIN.
- The return you’re calling about, plus a prior-year return. Verification questions often draw on a previously filed return, such as the entity’s address or specific line amounts.5Internal Revenue Service. Before Calling the IRS, People Should Know What Info They’ll Need to Verify Their Identity
- Any IRS notice you’re calling about. The notice number in the upper right corner lets the representative pull the issue immediately.
Write down your questions before you call. When the representative picks up, note their name and ID number; if the issue needs a follow-up call, having that reference speeds the next one considerably. Stick to one topic per call when you can. Trying to handle unrelated issues in a single conversation often triggers transfers and long holds.
If You’re Calling on Behalf of Someone Else’s Business
Tax professionals, accountants, or anyone other than the business owner need a valid authorization on file before the IRS will discuss the account. Two forms handle this:
- Form 2848, Power of Attorney, which lets a representative act for the business, including negotiating and signing.
- Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization, which lets a representative view and receive information but not act on the business’s behalf.
The authorization must be current and signed. Once accepted, it lives on the IRS Centralized Authorization File, which representatives check during the call.6Internal Revenue Service. Power of Attorney and Other Authorizations If nothing is on file, the representative will not discuss the account. Submit the form before you call, or have the business owner available to give verbal authorization during the call.
When to Call to Avoid a Long Wait
Mondays, Tuesdays, and the first hour after the line opens draw the heaviest volume. Wednesday through Friday, mid-morning or mid-afternoon, tends to be lightest. During the 2024 filing season, average waits on the accounts management lines (which include the business line) ran roughly 3 minutes, though waits stretched as high as about 13 minutes in some months outside filing season.7Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Telephone Level of Service and Average Wait Times Do Not Fully Reflect the Taxpayer Experience
If your hold looks likely to run past about 15 minutes, the system may offer an automated callback. Take it. You keep your place in the queue and a representative calls back when one is free. The callback option is available on most toll-free IRS lines, the business line included, during regular hours.8Internal Revenue Service. Let Us Help You
Listen to the full menu before pressing anything. Options change periodically, and a wrong press can drop you into a completely different queue.
Things You Can Handle Online Instead
Several tasks that used to require a phone call are now faster online.
The IRS Business Tax Account portal gives sole proprietors, partners, and corporate officers direct access to their business tax information. Through it you can view balances by year, make federal tax deposits and balance-due payments, pull transcripts, read select notices, and manage third-party authorization requests.9Internal Revenue Service. Business Tax Account
You can apply for a new EIN online during business hours and receive the number immediately. For payments, the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System runs 24/7 and handles income, employment, estimated, and excise tax payments, with scheduling up to a year ahead.10Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Electronic Federal Tax Payment System
Received a notice that asks for documents? The IRS Document Upload Tool accepts JPGs, PNGs, and PDFs. You’ll need the notice or letter number and your EIN. You cannot submit tax returns through it.11Internal Revenue Service. IRS Document Upload Tool
If you only need a business tax transcript mailed to you, call 800-908-9946 and follow the automated prompts. Transcripts arrive in 5 to 10 business days.
When the Phone Line Isn’t Enough
For complex issues, the IRS operates Taxpayer Assistance Centers where you can meet a representative in person. Appointments are required; call 844-545-5640 to schedule.12Internal Revenue Service. Contact Your Local IRS Office
If you’ve worked the normal channels and hit a wall, the Taxpayer Advocate Service is an independent organization within the IRS that helps taxpayers facing economic hardship, waiting more than 30 days for a response, or past a missed resolution date. Reach TAS at 877-777-4778.13Internal Revenue Service. Who May Use the Taxpayer Advocate Service?
If Someone Calls You Claiming to Be the IRS
The IRS does not make first contact by phone. The first contact about any tax issue arrives as a mailed letter or notice. An agent may call after that initial letter to set an appointment or discuss an audit, but not before.14Internal Revenue Service. Ways to Tell if the IRS Is Reaching Out or if It’s a Scammer
Red flags on any call claiming to be from the IRS:
- Demands for immediate payment or threats of arrest.
- Insistence on a specific payment method, such as gift cards or wire transfers.
- Refusal to let you question or appeal the amount.
- Pressure to hand over personal or financial information you didn’t initiate sharing.
Hang up and report the call to the Treasury Inspector General at 800-366-4484.15Internal Revenue Service. Recognize Tax Scams and Fraud