The Internal Revenue Service S Use Of Private Debt Collection Companies To Collect Federal Income Taxes

The IRS estimated that $33 billion in income tax assessments was not paid in 2001. If not collected, annual unpaid taxes keep accumulating each year along with penalty and interest charges to create an inventory of ¿tax debts,¿ which approached $300 billion at the end of FY 2007. IRS has shelved or delayed collection of billions of dollars of this tax debt. Congress and others have questioned IRS¿s collection process¿s. effectiveness. This is a report on: (1) the process IRS uses to collect unpaid tax debts; (2) trends in the unpaid tax debt inventory, collections, and other resolutions from FY 2002 through 2007; and (3) the performance measures and goals available to assess how well the collection process works overall. Includes recommend. Illus.