The Internal Revenue Service is preparing to turn seriously delinquent accounts over to private-sector collection agencies. The agency notes these are unpaid individual tax obligations that are not currently being worked by IRS collection employees and often were assessed by the tax agency several years ago.
Affected taxpayers will first receive mailings and subsequent telephone calls from the agency advising them of the pending collections. The mailing will contain the contact information for the private collection agency and include a copy of Publication 4518, What You Can Expect When the IRS Assigns Your Account to a Private Collection Agency.
IRS officials note only four private groups are participating in the program: CBE Group of Cedar Falls, Iowa; Conserve of Fairport, N.Y.; Performant of Livermore, Calif.; and Pioneer of Horseheads, N.Y. The taxpayer’s account will only be assigned to one of these agencies, never to all four. No other private group is authorized to represent the IRS.
After the IRS letter is sent, the designated private firm will send its own letter to the taxpayer and their representative confirming the account transfer. To protect the taxpayer’s privacy and security, both the IRS letter and the collection firm’s letter will contain information that will help taxpayers identify the tax amount owed and assure taxpayers that future collection agency calls they may receive are legitimate.
The private collectors will be able to identify themselves as contractors of the IRS collecting taxes. Their employees must be courteous, respect taxpayer rights and follow provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
They are authorized to discuss payment options, including setting up payment arrangements with taxpayers. However, payments must be made electronically or by check to the IRS. Payments should never be sent to a private firm or anyone besides the IRS or U.S. Treasury.
Additionally, private firms are not authorized to take enforcement actions against taxpayers. Only IRS employees can file notices of Federal Tax Lien or issue a levy.
Private firms are not authorized to take enforcement actions against taxpayers. Only IRS employees can take these actions, such as filing a notice of Federal Tax Lien or issuing a levy. Visit the Private Debt Collection page on IRS.gov for more information.
IRS officials concede scammers may pose as private collection firms. They remind taxpayers such firms will only be calling about a tax debt a person has had and been aware of for several years. In all cases, the IRS will have contacted the taxpayer previously. If you have paid your taxes and get such a call, it is probably a scam.
Taxpayers who are unsure whether they have an unpaid balance from a previous year can go to www.irs.gov/balancedue. If the account balance says zero, that means nothing is due, and you typically wouldn’t be getting a contact from the IRS or the private firm.
