FILE – A sign outside the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington, on May 4, 2021.
Effective immediately, the Internal Revenue Service will end its decades-old policy of making unannounced home and business visits — in a nod to worker safety and combatting scammers who pose as IRS agents. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS says it is ending its decades-old policy of making unannounced home and business visits — in a an effort to keep its workers safe and combat scammers who pose as IRS agents. Effective immediately, the change follows a number of other actions the agency has taken to improve worker safety. The agency in recent years has experienced more threats. In part, those were tied to conspiracy theories that agents were going to target middle-income taxpayers more aggressively after the passage of a climate, health care and tax bill that provided $80 billion to step up tax collections.