IRS Policy Change on Debt Collection
As your representative in Congress, I wanted to provide you with information regarding the changes to the IRS Debt Collection program. With all of these new changes in place, it is highly important to shield your financial holdings against fraudsters who seek to take advantage of this new opportunity. I’ve included some background and tips on the updated IRS Debt Collection policy below:
What you need to know:
The IRS began a new private collection of certain overdue federal tax debts, selecting four contractors to implement it:
- CBE Group (Cedar Falls, Iowa)
- Conserve (Fairport, New York)
- Performant (Livermore, California)
- Pioneer (Horseheeds, New York)
This program was enacted by Congress and allows the groups listed above to collect outstanding inactive tax receivables on the behalf of the federal government.
The IRS will give taxpayers and their tax representatives written notice that the accounts are being transferred to the private collection agencies.
Once the IRS letter is sent, one of the four designated private firms will send its own letter to the taxpayer and their tax representative confirming the account transfer. The private collectors will identify themselves as contractors of the IRS collecting taxes. They must be courteous and respect taxpayer rights.
Payments will NEVER be made to the private company; only to the IRS or the United States Treasury Department. These four selected private contractors cannot take or threaten enforcement actions against taxpayers- only IRS employees can take such actions.
Tips to safeguard against fraudulent calls:
- Private collection agencies will NOT ask for payment on prepaid debit, iTunes or gift cards.
- You will not receive unexpected phone calls from the IRS demanding payment.
- The IRS always sends several collection notices through the mail before making phone calls.
- Calls from private agencies will ONLY be regarding existing tax debt.
Bottom line:
You won’t get a call from a private collection firm unless you have unpaid tax debts going back several years and you’ve already heard from the IRS multiple times.
If you feel as though you are being targeted in a debt collection scam, please contact my office or take a look at some of information on the IRS website or in the documents below.
Private Collection of Some Overdue Federal Taxes Starts in April.pdf