difference between summons and subpoena

Summons is normally a request, either by deliver of mail or in person depending on the type of judgement. Summons is a request for more information and an appearance in court for a judgement against you.

A subpeona is directly from the judge or court clerk. This is almost always "blank" and it is up to the lawyer to deliver. This is almost always "served" to the defendant. A subpeona is normally to prove your case or against the other party. i.e. You dispute a charge on credit report that the charge is not yours. The charge is large enough or they have enough evidence to prove that it is yours then they will issue a subpeona to require you to repsond to the said charge. If you need more help determining how you should respond maybe I can help determine.

A summons is a call or citation by authority to appear before a court or a judicial officer while a subpoena is the usual writ for the summoning of witnesses or the submission of evidence, as records or documents, before a court or other deliberative body.

Hope this helps.

I received a card from sheriff stated to contact them RE:SUMMONS/SUBPOENA?What is this all about?

I have a postal center and recieved a summons from the IRS. It is signed by the agent not a judge. They are requesting information/documents on one of my mailbox holders. According to the USPS Rentala agreement given to all my box holders it staes: "The postal service (not the agent) (which is me) is the only authorized point of contact for private information. Any party seeking such information, including law enf. personel will be directed to the postal service by the agent (me)unless a subpoena is presented th agent"
The IRS is claiming that the summons is the same as a subpoena!! Anyone have a take on this. I do not want to break the privacy laws of my box holder or the postal service and yet I do not want to have a run in with the IRS.
???