Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Internal Revenue Service

Internal Revenue Service

18 3.8
A part of the U.S. government that collects federal taxes and makes sure people follow tax laws
  • proper noun
  • Formal
translation icon : Servicio de Impuestos Internos (EE. UU.)
  • The Internal Revenue Service conducts audits to ensure compliance with tax laws.
  • Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
  • United States Internal Revenue Service

Tom sends me a tax notice from the Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service.

Examples

  • That's against the rules of the Internal Revenue Service.

    Speedway (1968)

  • I work for the Internal Revenue Service.

    Speedway (1968)

  • The Internal Revenue Service wants you.

    Murphy's Romance (1985)

  • I became a representative of the Internal Revenue Service.

    The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989)

  • Yes, I'd like the number for the Internal Revenue Service, please.

    She-Devil (1989)

  • I'm with the Internal Revenue Service.

    Joe and Max (2002)

  • Yes, the Internal Revenue Service has been unfair to my client.

    Wicked Stepmother (1989)

  • Every year, people send their tax returns off to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

    Academic text (2002)

  • Land trusts receive tax-exempt status from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and operate as charitable entities.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Nonprofit organizations (including philanthropic foundations) have been able to electronically file the form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service since 2004.

    Academic text (2016)

Synonyms

IRS
vsInternal Revenue Service
  • Formal
247 3.2

A U.S. government agency that collects federal taxes and makes sure people follow tax laws

is the full official name written out rather than the short form

Surface Forms

Internal Revenue Service main

Morphology

internal + revenue + service

The phrase is fully compositional: 'revenue' refers to government-collected money (taxes), 'service' denotes an agency or organization, and 'internal' signals domestic/within-country. Together these parts directly yield the meaning 'the government agency that handles domestic tax revenue', a construction common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Internal Revenue Service is a plain name: Internal means inside the national government, Revenue means money the government gets, and Service means the office that does the work. So the name tells you it is the government office that collects 'taxes' and manages tax rules.