IRS international phone number: calling the IRS from abroad

The IRS page for contacting it internationally sends taxpayers with individual or business account questions to the International Taxpayer Service Call Center: 267-941-1000, not toll-free, Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., Eastern time (U.S. and Canada). The IRS names overpayment status, balances owed and letters about international tax forms as typical questions.

The IRS adds that taxpayer service formerly offered at its foreign posts of duty is no longer available, so for help from abroad you call, chat or write.

Our test call reached the IRS International and U.S. Residency Certification Services. It offered English on key 1 and Spanish on key 2, pointed to the IRS live chat for individual international tax matters, and then read a menu: 1 employer identification number for an entity organized outside the United States, 2 individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), 3 U.S. certifications and Forms 6166 or 8802, 4 calling from outside the United States or an international tax issue, 5 a letter 4403C or 4674C with an extension code, 6 all others, 9 to hear the topics again.

We pressed nothing and hung up after 90 seconds, before reaching a person.

The IRS offers a live chat in English for individuals with an international tax issue, Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., Eastern time. For help with account questions you need an active IRS Online account.

Residents of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands can call the IRS toll-free on 800-829-1040, Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Taxpayer Advocate Service for taxpayers living abroad lists +1 515 564 6827 (not toll-free); the IRS says such calls are routed to Hawaii or Puerto Rico depending on where you are.

Tax professionals and software providers with an e-file issue that is not account related call the e-help office in Austin, 512-416-7750 (not toll-free), Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Central time.

Browzerphone dials +1 numbers from a browser tab, with no SIM card and nothing to install, and shows the price per minute before you call; the rates page lists it for the United States. Our test call went out through Browzerphone's US phone provider from a US (+1) number. The keypad for the IRS menu is in the same tab.

Without credit, Browzerphone only allows a free trial call, and it ends after one minute. In our test the menu alone took more than a minute, so top up first if you need to reach an assistor.