Treasury Report Latest Confirmation of Need for Private IRS Debt Collection

ACA International, The Association of Credit and Collection Professionals (ACA) today pointed to a new report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) as fresh evidence of the need for the IRS’s Private Collection Agency (PCA) program and blasted opponents of the program for twisting the report’s conclusions. The TIGTA report found that IRS computer systems holding or transferring private taxpayer information have received the required Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) only 54 percent of the time. The E-Government Act of 2002 requires a PIA to be filed with the Office of Privacy and Information Protection for each of the IRS’s 240 systems or projects involving personal data.

“The TIGTA findings that privacy has not been adequately maintained by IRS employees remind us why Congress mandated that the IRS engage the private sector to help them fulfill their mission,” said ACA Director of Government Affairs Jenifer Loon. “While the IRS works diligently to address privacy concerns, taxpayers can be assured that private tax collection agencies are using state-of-the-art technology and best business practices to safeguard privacy while helping to reduce the $300 billion tax collection gap,” Loon said. “Sadly NTEU, the public employees union representing IRS workers, opposes strengthening privacy for taxpayers by relying on private sector resources and has chosen instead to twist the facts in order to purposely confuse and scare taxpayers,” Loon said. An October 5th press release from the NTEU made unfounded and inaccurate claims that the TIGTA report disapproves of the PCA program. “Contrary to NTEU assertions, the TIGTA report says nothing about the PCA program. This is because PCA’s adhere to more stringent privacy standards and do not even receive tax return information from the IRS.” Private Collection Agencies (PCAs) have been contracted by the IRS to recover delinquent taxes that the IRS-due to a structure that lacks many tools used professionally and effectively by the private sector-is unable to pursue internally. The initial phase of the program began September 7 and is already exceeding expectations, according to congressional testimony last week by IRS Commissioner Mark Everson.

“Already I’m told we have received over a half a million in cash thus far from some 250-odd taxpayers,” Everson told the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security. Responding to questions from the Subcommittee members, Everson indicated the debt collection program was off to a good start. He also pledged to vigilant oversight of the program. “I’m cautiously optimistic that [the program] is going to supplement and bring in more money to help us, but if there are any warts or problems with it, we’re going to be very transparent about it and make whatever adjustments we have to.”