The IRS could show up at your door if you don’t file your taxes, but by the time it gets to that, they’ll already have sent you several warnings.

Starting this month, about 800 non-filing taxpayers who earn six figures or more per year can expect a visit from the Internal Revenue Service, and thousands more house calls are expected through the year.

The agency said Wednesday that it is stepping up efforts to visit high-income taxpayers who did not file their tax returns in 2018 or previous years.

Face-to-face visits with high-income taxpayers are part of an effort to ensure compliance and fairness across all income groups, CNN reported. The effort will focus on people with incomes exceeding $100,000.

In 2019, taxpayers were less likely than usual to be audited by the IRS. The IRS audited about one in 220 individual taxpayers last year compared to one in 90 a decade ago, CNBC reported.

You can thank personnel reductions at the IRS for that. The 2018 IRS budget of $11.4 billion was about 20 percent less than in 2010, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The agency’s largest budget cuts were in funding for enforcement. 

But the IRS has now hired additional enforcement personnel, according to AP.

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IRS revenue officer visits are unannounced, but taxpayers being visited will have typically received several letters over an extended period so they generally know they have a tax issue. Officers will always provide two forms of official credentials, the IRS said.

Wealthy taxpayers are much more likely to be audited than low and middle-income Americans.

The IRS would rather you go to them than wait for the knock on your door. “It is always worthwhile to take advantage of various methods of getting back into filing or payment compliance before being personally contacted by the IRS,” said Paul Mamo, IRS director of collection operations in the small business and self-employed division.

Payment plans are available and you may be eligible to settle your tax debt for less than the full amount or to get a temporary delay on collection until your financial situation improves. Penalties and interest mount up over time. You don’t just pay penalties on the taxes owed. You pay penalties on the interest.

To avoid being scammed, the IRS has prepared this: How To Know it’s Really the IRS Calling or Knocking on Your Door