TOPICS
TOPICS
Senate bill would allow private tax collection
The Senate this week passed a corporate tax bill that would allow the Internal Revenue Service to let private companies help with debt collection.
Under the tax legislation (S. 1637), which passed Tuesday night by a vote of 92 to 5, the IRS could sign contracts with private-sector debt collection companies, as long as those companies abide by the same rules as federal agents. The bill would also require agency officials to send lawmakers reports on private collection efforts.
The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents 98,000 IRS employees, has long opposed any plans to let private companies help with tax collection, and has vowed to fight the measure. The House has yet to pass its version of the corporate tax bill. At the committee level, House members rejected proposals to allow private tax collection.
"Privatizing the function is not only the most inefficient way to collect tax debts," said NTEU President Colleen Kelley in a statement criticizing the Senate bill. "It puts private and sensitive taxpayer information at unacceptable risk by making it available to the most complained-about industry in America -- debt collectors."
Previous attempts to outsource debt collection have failed, Kelley noted. But the Bush administration supports the limited use of private debt collectors to free up resources for IRS agents to focus on more complex enforcement cases. The president proposed private collection in his fiscal 2004 and 2005 budget requests.
In addition to these provisions, the Senate corporate tax bill contains language designed to encourage disclosures of tax violations. A provision would create a whistleblower protection office within the IRS, and would allow the agency to offer rewards for exposing tax fraud.
While considering the corporate tax measure, the Senate also passed an amendment preventing most civilian federal agencies from outsourcing jobs to contractors working outside the United States. That language is likely to be modified when the bill reaches House-Senate negotiations.
COMMENTS
- If people think IRS abuses of the past were scandalous, wait until they actually open up debt collection to private contracors! The business of the government will go offshore, and think of how many more corporate entities will pay even less in taxes. As the law allows now, a taxpayer has NO legal recourse if a revenue agent levies against them. You are going to privatize that kind of power to a private contractor? M. Joseph Posted May 17, 2004 6:39 AM
- You've got to be kidding. Most Americans feel that they're already paying too much in taxes and begrudgingly mail their checks to the IRS. Private company collections is a slap in the face for all taxpayers...why not just send the King's foot soldiers to collect the taxes? GovExec.com reader Posted May 14, 2004 7:31 AM
- "...the power to tax is the power to destroy", credited to US Supreme Court Justice John Marshall, is just as true today as when originally spoken. The power to "...lay and collect taxes..." is an inherently governmental function, specifically delegated to congress by the Constitution of The United States. Once again, our elected officials, emboldened by the embrace of presidential executive privelege abuses, will imperil the civil liberties of those whom they pretend to serve. Vote them ALL out! Fred Fraiser Posted May 13, 2004 9:41 PM
