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IRS Decision to End Private Tax Collection A 'Victory' for Taxpayers
In a victory for taxpayers and the country, the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) decided to shut down the private
tax collection program.
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ACTION!
Bill
Ensures Final End to IRS Contracting Program
NTEU is supporting legislation that
would put the final nail in the coffin of the IRS's private
tax collection program.
H.R.
796, introduced by Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), would
repeal the IRS's authority to use private collection agencies
to collect federal taxes.
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action today! |
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Kelley applauded both the agency decision
not to renew the contracts of the two private companies, and the
view expressed by IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman that agency employees
are much more cost-effective and helpful to taxpayers. For more
than five years, NTEU spearheaded a campaign to call attention to
the flaws of the program, garnering bipartisan Congressional backing
and a statement of support by then-presidential candidate Barack
Obama.
In ending the contracts, Shulman noted that a study
of the cost-effectiveness of the private tax collection program
showed “it is reasonable to conclude” that when working
similar inventories, “IRS collection is more cost-effective
than the contractors.”
This squares with NTEU’s longstanding and
strongly-held position. “This result, a long time coming in
the face of growing opposition to the program, is not only a good
decision by the IRS, it is the right decision,” said President
Kelley. “It reaffirms what NTEU has said repeatedly—that
given the tools and resources, no one can perform the work of the
federal government better than federal employees. This is an important
vote of confidence for IRS employees.”
The NTEU leader has consistently called for additional
IRS resources and personnel, both for collection and customer service
activities.
In announcing its decision, Commissioner Shulman
noted the IRS anticipates hiring more than 1,000 additional collection
personnel this fiscal year, and that IRS employees have a range
of options available to them in attempting to resolve collection
cases that, by law, the private companies contracted by the IRS
did not have.
These options, which take on increasing importance
and relevance in today’s exceptionally difficult economic
circumstances, include the offer-in-compromise program, under which
a portion of a taxpayer’s obligation can be forgiven; settlement
agreements providing for delayed or skipped payments, depending
on circumstances; and other steps, the NTEU leader said.
Since the program was first proposed early in the
Bush administration, President Kelley led the fight against the
IRS use of private tax collectors, citing its cost, its potential
for abusive treatment of taxpayers and the serious risk it poses
to taxpayers’ personal and sensitive information.
She was joined in her call for an end to the program
and repeal of the legislation under which it was authorized by a
growing and bipartisan number of House members and senators, as
well as by a broad range of consumer and public interest groups.
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