Can the IRS Read Your Email?

Are your personal and business emails private? Last week the IRS indicated to members of Congress that it had the authority to read them. In a statement issued on April 22, 2013, the IRS clarified the scope of this authority:

“Where the IRS already has an active criminal investigation and seeks to obtain the content of emails from an Internet Service Provider (ISP), we obtain a court ordered search warrant. It is not the IRS policy to seek the content of emails from ISPs in civil cases.”

Source: IRS statement 4.22.13