Identity theft victims already have to deal with debt collectors for debts created by their identity thief.

I can already see the situation where the IRS-contracted debt collector is banging on the door of an identity theft victim.
"Sir, it appears you didn't pay taxes on all of your reported income."

"There's another person working under my social security number", replies the frustrated ID theft victim. "I've reported it to the IRS, social security administration, the FTC, and the police."

"Well it looks like you may have to contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service too, because you haven't paid the taxes on all income reported under your SSN."

"You've got to be kidding!"

"I'm just doing my job sir. You owe the taxes and I'm here to collect."

www.IdTheftAwareness.com

How could this ever, possibly, turn out well? On what planet did this seem like a good idea?

I am really begining to think that goverment in general has really lost it's way. This is so stupid it defy's belief, instead of hiring new workers or just plain "DOING THEIR JOB" we are going to outsource collections......brilliant, just brilliant......

Tax law # 861 check it out.

I am continually amazed at the ways our government finds to sell out the American people to their buddies in big business. From no bid contract war profiteering to keeping fuel efficient cars out of the US to this.

Our government is wholly corrupt. And that corruption has become such a part of the political landscape that it has a new name today. They call "how things get done in Washington."

I say we throw out the entire bunch of bums in both houses of Congress. McCain, Kennedy, Frist, Hatch, Hillary, Republican and Democrat alike, all of them. Start over with a fresh batch. While there's a chance nothing may change, but how much worse could it be than what we already have?

Throw the bums out this fall, and that includes your guy. Everyone has this attitude that Congress is corrupt, except their guy. No, it's your guy, too. Throw them all out.

Hire more agents for collecting these debts ....to hire outside contractors to solicit payments from consumers other than the IRS would be a nightmare for consumers.

As someone who pays my taxes, I must say that I support more concentrated efforts to make others pay their fair share. I have deadbeat family members who owe the government thousands of dollars, and they will never pay unless someone makes their tax bill take priority over their other outstanding debts. If you don't pay your taxes (or government-sponsored student loans for that matter), your credit score should suffer. Being fiscally irresponsible must have consequences.

That said, we've all at some point received a call from a pushy collector. The government needs to set up a complaint line to go with this program that includes a team of government people to take a good look at all complaints of harassment. When sharks smell blood in the water, they can't help but start to hunt - collectors are no different.

I have no problems with debt collectors doing their job in a fair and professional way. When they start getting cocky and snotty is where I draw the line. We got into a situation where a bill of my husbands went to collection. I put a payment in the envelope they provided, but forgot to put the check in - an HONEST mistake. These people called us up and left a fun message on our voice mail: accusing us of scamming them, how dare we, they are gonna mess up our credit, blah blah blah. I retaliated - by first calling back and telling this woman off on HER voice mail, explaining my mistake, and then launching into her UNPROFRESSIONAL behavior and how dare SHE talk to me like that. I followed this up with a letter to her, and her supervisor, including the check I mistakenly forgot to enclose the first time. Guess what? She called amd and apologized!!! Unheard of for a bill collector!!! She said that in her business they have to assume most people lie, hence her nasty phone call.
So our government wants to deal with collectors who cant treat the citizens with respect when they are in a bad situation? Why doesnt that surprise me? Our government doesnt even treat us with respect lately.
Strange bedfellows, debt collectors and the government.

Tax time is also the same time each year, so the idea that someone just didn't relize it was tax time and didn't pay their taxes is a crock. I work for a company who is very well off and their employees are very well off and they just simply chose not to pay their taxes because they feel like they don't owe the government anything. To these people I say send the big dogs in. Let them ruin these peoples credit and so forth, because the little middle class person such as myself does the right thing and pays our taxes. I only hope that these people not paying their taxes are caught and fined as they should be.

What are the 3 agencies? Another article: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m6280/is_n3_182/ai_18699321 listed five: Aman Collection Service, Inc., Aberdeen, South Dakota; Continental Credit Service, Kirkland, Washington; CSC Credit Services, Houston; GC Services, Washington, D.C.; and Unger & Associates, Dallas.

You should be more concerned about "Big Business" not paying there fair share of taxes, in fact, with all the loop holes that they use, they really don't pay any taxes at all. As a business major at Pepperdine University, I've read enough case's on how big business is ripping off America by not paying their fair share. I'm am 100% for profits, but am 100% against profiteering, which is happening right now in this country.

Is the IRS using private collection agencies a bad idea? ABSOLUTELY!
Will the IRS getting this money make taxes lower for the rest of us? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I cannot believe you still believe that tired old argument. The only thing it will do is give the politicians more money to spend.

I am a federal employee who works in a collections unit not related to the IRS. This kind of this is bothersome to say the least. Here is something that people also should know about. If there is another branch of the Federal Governement that is owed money and is unable to collect then that debt is turned over to the IRS for collection. The idea is that they will garnish there tax returns in order to get the money owed the Government. We also have debt collection agencies that work for us. So now it appears that the debt will just be moved from one debt collector to another until the money is collected. Seems the government needs to rethink this whole collection process.

No one is going to help the little guy because we can not buy anyone off. Children are learning the wrong message when they realize they are going to have pay for advancement and connections. I know that this kind of situation is going to get worse,because if Barry and the President can lie ahd cheat,why shouldn't everyone.

Who is collecting the Billions of back Tax dollars owed by Politicians and Irs Workers? Want to talk about eliminating the National debt!! How many of the Collection Agency's or Individuals(with friends,family) who work for them owe, and now will never pay? Just what the country needs, more legalized racketeering

What the IRS needs to remember is that THEY are federal employees, collectiona agents are NOT. The criminal statutes against harming a "private individual" aren't nearly as strong as harming a federal employee. _I_ don't have any debt problems (owe nothing to NOBODY except "revolving - as in "paid off every month" - credit cards), but SOME folks who are in monetary "dire straights" might consider lashing out at collection agents in whatever form they can accomplish (and they REALLY might want to remember that)

I made a large mistake on a past return and undisputedly owed the IRS a large sum of money. They didn't seem to be lacking in manpower to send me notices. About the same time, I ran into some other fiancial problems and had a hard time paying some credit card debt. In my opinion, I'd much rather deal with the IRS than the credit card companies and private collectors. At least the IRS is willing to work with you and not harrass you with threats or jack up the interest rates. I think the IRS and the public would be much better off if the IRS spent the 25% on more employees. After all, $75 billion would be better spent on employee wages than filling the coffers of private collection agencies.

As someone very close to a 30 year retired IRS employee I can say without a doubt that the vast majority of people that don't pay their "owed" taxes are the middle class, not the wealthy.

The number one reason for not paying these taxes has always been not knowing they owed them until tax time and then not having the money on hand to pay the bill.

True, you hear of tax cheats that are scamming millions of dollars (Marc Rich comes to mind), but they are really a rare, yet highly publicized instance.

To sum up, it has always been the case that the VAST majority of delinquent cases and money owed is due to people simply not having the money to pay the bill and that is usually due to receiving taxable income that is not taxed at all or simply not having enough withheld from their checks.

That however, is not a cool headline!

I had my bank account frozen and wages attached by the IRS for non payment. I thought this was standard procedure. It certainly gets your attention and you act upon it.

The IRS itself is a debt collection agency- it is the collection agency for the Federal Reserve. Educate yourself on our money and banking establishment and you'll realize the American people were sold out long, long ago.

This is going to be bad- very bad, it's already nearly impossibloe to settle debt with the IRS- now you have to deal with a collection angency who does not have the authority to make settlements, something the IRS does do- meaning when and if you straighten out the situation w/ the IRS who is going to pull it from the collection when they're still trying to collect interest payments and fees- that will still be reported to the credit bureaus- have you ever tried to dispute a debt that was a mistake or just a item of indenity theft- can u say nightmare!! my suggestion they're gonna do what ever they want so disconnect the phones if u owe- return all their mail when it comes-& buy everything w/ cash. do what everybody else does and them too, when they owe u- Disappear!!!

As a libertarian I oppose the idea of an IRS. This country survived many years without an income tax.

This federal government and many state governments spend billions of dollars on nothing (see msnbc's own article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12169524 for more details). What ought to be done is cut programs away. As for NASA, that long ago should have become a private company. Since Apollo NASA, though their budget is a fraction of the national budget, has done very little and cost a lot. And don't even get me started on our beloved President's war.

So I ask you, who is really the not responsible?

And yes I pay taxes, begrudgingly.

It feels like just a matter of time until this program gets outsourced to "Tax Assistance Centers" in India.

Well, here we go again... when will we, as Americans, stand up and say "ENOUGH!?" Perhaps the French have the right idea, taking to the streets to express their disapproval. Our "less government is better" Republican-led government sells us out once more. But at least we don't have gay marriage, THAT would have really eroded our liberties...

I'm one of those people who owe taxes. I don't deny that. But I work in an industry where the only regulation is SUB-CONTRACT. The employers do everything possible to separate themselves from the people who actually go out and get the job done. In order to work I have to pay for workmans comp, liability, not to mention the endless amount of paper and the hands that reach in for money. I don't have an education that allows me to keep up with this all and I can't afford to stop working to educate myself better. Not to mention the companies I work for make just as much off my back as they pay me or more. Has anyone priced the labor rates to have products constructed or installed at their homes or businesses. Before the IRS runs off on a rant they should look into the degrees of separation that companies are allowed to put between themselves and the people who actually do the work. P.S. with all the insurance I have to carry can you believe it doesn't cover me in the event of an accident. Only my employees are covered, and I don't even have employees. And you say become exempt from W/C. Nice try if you don't carry it they deduct 13% off every bill so their company supposedly has or employees or not covered. This country and our government are going to the dogs. However, some day enough of us will get fed up with this system of crap and then change will be inevitable. This country needs to go on strike. Shut everything down until the government becomes fair to the working class people of this country.

I've worked for the IRS, not in taxes, and congress passes a law that if an IRS employee doesn't pay their taxes then they are fired and about a dozen other areas where they can be fired for things that ordinary people get a second and a third and forth tries to change so don't believe that the IRS people aren't paying thier share. But did you see the message earlier? The government contracted out the background check service but they are the ones doing back ground checks on the collection service so now we have a contract vendor checking on a contract vendor. What if the background check vendor doesn't make enough profit and starts to sell information? The IRS tried contract vendors for receiving payments and the vendor's got behind so they started shredding documentation so they wouldn't be penalized for poor performance. Do you see a trend?

Well, I think all of you that voted for Bush and a GOP congress got exactly what you deserved. First they gave you the very consumer friendly "New Bankruptcy Law" to help the poor banks collect more money and choke you in the process. Now they're giving you a wake up call (literally, because that's what you'll be getting from the collectors) and I'm sure they have a 3rd gift for you in store before Bush departs. Enjoy

As a small business, I support ALL effects to collect bad debts from dead beats. If you paid your bills on time, then you avoid the debt collector. Duh? More power to IRS !!!

What is wrong with this picture: $300 BILLION (for ONE YEAR) in outstanding tax debt. $90 BILLION considered "collectible" by the IRS (I assume that means uncontestable by the taxpayer). But the government thinks it can only manage to collect $100 Million (.11%) in two years, and only $1.4 Billion (1.55%??) in THE NEXT TEN YEARS?? When there was approx. $300 billion in delinquencies in ONE year??? SO EXACTLY WHAT THE HELL IS THE GOVERNMENT EVEN DOING WITH IT'S TIME??? Could they be any more incompetent?? Don't they have powers to compel payment that a collection agency doesn't have? You are right that it is a give-away to the debt collection industry, but more then that - it is yet more proof that the government is, in every way possible, completely incompetent. $300 BILLION delinquent in ONE YEAR?? And this $%#@%* WAR is costing us how much again??? Unbelievable. Freakin' unbelievable.

I HAVE TO AGREE WITH CORPORATIONS NOT PAYING THERE FAIR SHARE.LOOK AT THE OIL COMPANIES,WHEN EVERYONE IS PAYING AROUND $3.00 PER GALLON AT THE PUMP THEY SAY IT'S BUSINESS AND THERE LOOSING MONEY AND YET WHEN THE HURICANES RUINED THE GULF COAST THEY MADE PROFITS OF 10 BILLION DOLLARS AND CONTINUE TO DO SO TODAY. THEY KEEP RAISING IT & GIVE EXCUSES,BUT STILL MAKE PROFITS.

Who is paying for this ? Us you know the people that can not afford health insurance or medical bills and have to choose between paying taxes or getting groceries ! Hire more employees, it will cost US less !

It seems to me that it'd be difficult to protect people's privacy with this scheme. Between the possibility that the collection agencies are going to to have to get some info about income (which might be derived from tax liability) and an unwiiting person's ignorance causing them to share too much info, their are laws and expectations of privacy that this ill-concieved scheme fails to address.

It seems to me that it'd be difficult to protect people's privacy with this scheme. Between the possibility that the collection agencies are going to get some info about income (which might be derived from tax liability) and an unwiiting person's ignorance causing them to share too much info, their are laws and expectations of privacy that this ill-concieved scheme fails to address.

It seems to me that it'd be difficult to protect people's privacy with this scheme. Between the possibility that the collection agencies are going to get some info about income (which might be derived from tax liability) and an unwiiting person's ignorance causing them to share too much info, their are laws and expectations of privacy that this ill-concieved scheme fails to address.

A few years ago, the IRS decided I had not filed my taxes for a particular year. They sent me a notice and I replied a copy of my return, along with a copy if a letter they had sent me correcting a mistake on that return. (So obviously they had received the return in a timely fashion.) A few months later, I got another notice saying that I had not filed that particular return. I re-sent them the same stuff. This did this for a while, and I would re-send the copy, until finally I wrote them a letter saying that I had sent them the same stuff several times. This time, I didn't send them a copy of the return. Instead of responding, they very kindly filed a new tax return for that year on my behalf, and sent me a tax bill for $52,000, plus penalties. My only option, at that point was to take them to tax court. I didn't even hire a lawyer because I felt the case was so simple. As it turns out, the IRS lawyer conceded the case. But, think how many resources the IRS itself wasted because of its own idiotic behavior (never mind the time I myself wasted.) Essentially, the IRS has more than enough resources, they don't need to go to tax collectors. Or they wouldn't, if the organization wasn't mismanaged so badly. The problem isn't the public, the problem is the IRS.

It seems to me that it'd be difficult to protect people's privacy with this scheme. Between the possibility that the collection agencies are going to get some info about income (which might be derived from tax liability) and an unwiiting person's ignorance causing them to share too much info, their are laws and expectations of privacy that this ill-concieved scheme fails to address.

Here is my example of dealing with a collection agency...
My "EX" husband owed Discover card. Whe Discover couldn't collect from him they started harassing me. My name was not on the card and I never signed as a co-applicant for the card. Discover card harassed my for several years. They called me at work, home and on my cell phone. They threatened my home, my job, etc... I asked them over and over again to pull the signature card to prove to them that I wasn't on the card. They cost me thousands of dollars extra when I tried to buy a home and due to my credit report. Finally, after over 4 years, they pulled the card and my name wasn't on it! Of course there was nothing I could do to them to get them to repay me for all the damage they had done. They are completely protected and I had no protection. Collection companies are filled with a bunch of slimeball collectors that will do and say anything to get you to pay whether you owe the money or not. If the government wanted to do something useful they should check into the collection world and they would see how they treat honest, tax-paying citizens. It's deplorable!!!!

I read all the other people's comments & agreed with most of them. NO body needs harrassing phone calls. We are all under pressure today. But the thing is, the government doesn't ASK us for any of our ideas. They don't care one little bit for us regular folks, only for themselves & their $million pensions which they voted for themselves.

My company was sent letters by the State IRS to pay taxes for employees that I didn't have. After their last "nasty gram", I finally talked to someone that could take me off their delinquent list and correct the employees status of the company. I'm sure the collection agencies will be very sympathetic to IRS mistakes!

as a former debt collector, i can tell you up front that this will not work well into the future due to the abuse that will take place. and as far as the irs monitoring them we know that will be a joke they can't even monitor themself, thats why they will only go after small amounts of whats owed rather than the large amounts owed due to the fact that most irs employees don't even know the tax code or how to find out what it says, the code is a monster that cannot be explained. the irs could set up their own collection dept very easily, but like all goverment agencies they have to have the ability to get rid of the ones who don't do their share of the job, you must keep politics out of the collection business, punish the bad ones and let the good ones do their jobs.

It seems to me that it'd be difficult to protect people's privacy with this scheme. Between the possibility that the collection agencies are going to get some info about income (which might be derived from tax liability) and an unwiiting person's ignorance causing them to share too much info, their are laws and expectations of privacy that this ill-concieved scheme doesn't seem to address.

As stated earlier in this discussion, the govenment is full of crooks whose only job is to help themselves and their friends. I work for the Geological survey and our mapping jobs are and have been "privetised". This is to save money for the taxpayers. The work in given to contractors and when they run out of money, they send the work back saying that they didn't receive enough funding to complete the job. this is after bidding on the job.

What do you see the contractors doing with the IRS? "We need more money to do the job that we bid on"

Somehow I don't see the IRS being able to reveive any more money than they are gettign right now.

Public graft is alive and well in our presant leaders. And there doesn't appear to be anything that we as taxpayers can do about it.

Every year I am amazed with the tax world...All this crazy talk about collections and taxes etc....could all be avoided with a simple and effective flat tax rate...you make this you pay this...NO instead we like to make it complicated and every year the IRS requires the American citizen to be an accountant...WHY...Why should we be an agent each year for the IRS...you pay taxes that is all the US Constitution requires...now all this tax preparations and collections...more layers, more complications...

The IRS should not privatize this sort of thing. The IRS should not privatize *anything.* I mean, seriously, if the Internal Revenue Service can't collect taxes, what good is it?

Our government has been "selling" our country to the highest bidder for the longest time. This new twist shouldn't be surprising to anyone. These self-serving politicians have been selling us out to any business that is willing to pay them big $$$ to line their own pockets. They are allowing Mexicans to colonize our country (cheap labor anyone?), they were going to let an Arab government run our major ports (so much for Homeland Security), and you can bet they're counting on making incredible profits from Iraqi oil....the list goes on. Corruption has always been a part of American government, but this current administration has to be the worst. They blatantly lie, cheat and steal, and they're not held accountable. I just wonder how long we're all going to sit here like lambs and take it?

Won't be long before the big brains in congress outsource this process to Inda. Will only have to pay them two cents on the dollar and they will work 24 hrs a day 365 day a year !!!!!

It is remarkable that the IRS has chosen a company with past history of abuse of power. (Linebarger). Why were the 3 chosen that's another question to ask. You noted that Diversified Coll is one of the biggest contributors and yet they weren't chosen...so what do the 3 that were have that the other's didn't? I would be curious to find out! As far as collection agencies go, if there wasn't such an insurmountable amount of debt (federal, state, consumer credit card, etc...) there wouldn't be a need for them. America - free enterprise - and all that jazz. If we all paid our debts then we wouldn't be in the mess we are in!

This isn't good. It is already difficult enough to get the independent collection agencies out there to follow the law.

On the other hand, though, this could provide a lot of tax relief for a lot of citizens out there. The law in a lot of states (and maybe nationally -- I'm not sure) is that if you get turned over to "collections" on a debt that you were making good-faith efforts to resolve or pay off, then you have a decent chance of getting off scott-free. Given the lack of institutional control the IRS has always exhibited, I could see quite a few people who are making monthly payments getting turned over impropertly to outsourced collections companies.

Probably the biggest problem with national tax collections is the shear complications involved in doing so. Filling out a tax return should be simple enough for the average American with an average education to be able to do without hiring somebody. I'm a graduate student with years of experience in math, statistics, business, and other related skills, and I'm on the edge of not being able to do my own taxes!!! This isn't right!!! I'm not neccesarily advocating a "flat tax" -- because that doesn't neccesarily fix the problem -- but a simpler tiered system with fewer complicated income reporting requirements, fewer complicated deductions, and fewer complicated credits would go a long way toward the IRS collecting what it is due in a fair, reasonable manner.

The reason is simple. Professional debt collectors will collect 4-5 times what non incenticized gov't employees will. Getting 75% of 100 million is a helluva lot better than 100% of 25 million!

Outsourcing this task of reducing oustanding debt is commonplace. You people think that hiring professionals to complete the task is silly. Probably because you owe back taxes. I applaud the government's efforts, both in the tax environment and in defaulted student loans. Sorry if we make your life uncomfortable, PAY YOUR BILLS ON TIME! Debtors make it harder for people who are responsible with their money. The Federal Government has installed plenty of consumer protection laws and they work. Educate yourself about your recourse if you have been harmed and you will find justice. The collection industry finds justice for creditors who lend to unworthy, dishonest borrowers. The IRS has been in the business of financing tax debt for debtors who refuse to prioritize and budget. No more monthly installments for you. The real mistake by the IRS is not reporting these debts as collection accounts, since the public record system of reporting debts to the bureaus is flawed.

So basically, most of you are saying it's bad to be direct and definite about a debt collectors intention to have someone not steal money that results in more money coming out of your own pocket! I really wish I had the strength to turn the other cheek like that!

You should investigate this issue in more depth.

You might find out just how many people have hit rock bottom & simply can't pay what has already gone over & taken from each check. And lets not forget everytime you hit the grocery store or gas pump that even more taxes are taken.

Alot of people are no longer paycheck to paycheck.

It's now the one tragedy away from ruin theme & millions are having those tragedies whether it be medical, auto repair etc..

Once you are broke,ignoring a couple grand to the government is pretty easy once you know there isn't anything that can be seized & you cash your checks for a fee at check cashing stores.

Not paying excessive tax debt is probably the only power average Americans have left to get this lousy government to spend the money where it needs to be spent.

Anyone who thinks I'm a deadbeat because I owe some money to Sam probably makes over 50,000 per year and lives quite comfortably, so it would probably take at least a hurricane to change your mentality.

The IRS can't handle going after everybody? GOOD !!

Wanna change the course of the war or try to get back on your feet?

Ignore your excessive debt & save your money in a shoebox.

My mother has worked at the IRS for almost 20 years. Up until a few years ago she was a "seasonal" employee because there wasn't enough work to keep her all year round. This meant she collected unemployment when tax season was over. There are thousands of seasonal IRS employees that drain tax dollars with unemployment, who WANT to work. My mother was forced to apply and reapply for jobs until she finally got her full time position. How dare the government give private collection agencies money, when they could easily make seasonal employees full time, providing them a steady income and stopping unemployment payouts that taxpayers have to pay for.

Also, my sister and I made the mistake of once living next door to each other in two apartments. Even after we moved, we were getting each others mail. My sister has had some debt problems in the past, and somehow the debt collectors have gotten ahold of MY address. Now letters come addressed to her, but actually having MY address on them. I call and tell the companies that they have the wrong address, and still the bills don't stop. In fact, I've been yelled at repeatedly by debt collectors, who refuse to believe that I'm telling the truth, and who believe that I am actually my sister. Recently, I checked my free copy of my credit reports to see that HER old address is listed on MY credit report. It's one step away from having her debt attributed to me. Debt collection agencies are well known for their guerilla tactics, and frankly, I know that my sister still won't pay them. If people don't want to pay, they won't, no matter who is in charge of the debt. Strong arm tactics only hurt those of us who are innocent.

So, Deadbeats think bill collectors are bad and unprofessional!!!You poor whiney babies. Did you think that if you paid your bill you wouldnt have these people calling you. There are bad apples in every industry in the country and its amazing that you would rather deal with the IRS more than the Bill Collectors. I guarantee it is harder for a bill collector to collect a debt than it is for The Powerfull Internal Revenue Service..
So quit your finger pointing -- as the old saying goes, when you got 1 finger pointing at someone you got three pointing back at you.

The FairTax will solve this problem. No IRS, no personal compliance issues. www.fairtax.org

I have gotten notices going back to 1999, 2002, 2004 due to to error found when filing for taxes. Need to make a better system, so this people vs. government would be emlimated. Government doesn't actually force to collect but seems to LOVE making more because of interest. $77 owed turns to $1200...Now this year I owe too much, unemployed and filed bankrupt. So if I owe $1900 now, later they will get at least $10,000. If I don't pay now. Good thing I filed for extention. I don't see IRS and Debt collectors working together.

These contractors will be paid a premium of about 25% of what they get, and, they will cherry-pick the cases. Better practice is to expand the IRS which collects at three cents to the dollar.

Humm, Well I pay my taxes but I still have one question what page does it state that I have to pay taxes to the IRS. I challenge anyone to pull from that big book to find the law. Everyone must pay federal Tax. Plus to help me better under stand the Tax laws they should be written so that I can under stand them better. That way there will be less chance of me doing something wrong. You see I was not born a lawyer with an understanding of tax law. No should I have to pay someone to do my taxes... Bring on the flat tax please!!!

One has to wonder what in the world is happening in Washington D.C.I actually believe that you can work with the IRS.Collection agencies are the blight of America.I have been repeatedly harrassed day and night by these attack dogs.Good hard working people like myself who are down on their luck and are trying as hard as they can to pay off their bills have been verbally abused by these people and now they are being hired by our government to collect debts?I can't wait for the next election because it is high time that all office holders from every party are tossed out and just maybe they will be unemployed long enough to be subjected to the same collection abuse that millions of Americans have for years.

They need to open that list up to freelance debt collectors. I could use a job that pays in the millions.

Let me see if I got this right: The federal government has its own tax collection agency, it is called the IRS, yet the federal government (IRS) will privatize tax debt collection instead of hiring a more people. And just what is the 2004 American Jobs Creation Act mean(?) Why doesn't the IRS re-hire some of the people it layed-off over the last few years or hire some of the people that lost their jobs do to outsourcing, business bankruptcies, and the ever popular, down-sizing & under-employed. There are plenty of American people that would go to work for the IRS as collectors; I would.
Also, has anyone thought about the HUGE possibility that these agencies will outsource these jobs overseas? Now that will be interesting...speaking to someone who barely speaks english to dispute or confirm a debt owed to the IRS; an american government entity.
Get the popcorn out & wait for the made-for-tv movie.

I am a collector (stop looking behind you) and I am proud to do my work well. I see bill collecting as the second oldest profession. (Someone had to get the guy to pay) I have seen very good and very bad collectors over the years and I believe that it is possible to have private collection companies collect IRS debt safely. Collections as an industry does have a bad reputation that over the years they have earned. There are a lot of professions with a bad reputation that we do not think twice about having work with the government. (Know any lawyer jokes, politicians?) This is just one more attempt to try to get the big government to be fiscally responsible and not create more government jobs that NEVER go away. Could the IRS hire collectors and do collections internally, yes. However as is always the case with the government they would have to hire collectors, managers, Sr. managers, Directors, asst. Directors and so on to do the job that one collector could do. Which is more efficient? Now, do I want collection calls on my tax debt, of course not? The thing to remember is I pay my taxes. With regards to the question about identity theft, this is a big problem for collectors too, because there are debtors who claim this when they know it is false. I had one man tell me that his ID was stolen off the Internet 20 years ago and he is not responsible. He is now in jail for fraud. I guess what I am trying to say is when it comes to having private collectors collect tax debt, how much worst could it be?

I had one instance initiated from the State of Maryland. A collector started calling about alleged tax debt from a time after I moved from Maryland. They also were after my wife even though she had never lived there. The error originated in a Lexus analysis group employeed by the State of Maryland (state angency, not contractor) and they acknowledged their error. The collections contractor was attempting to claim sovereign immunity and claimed exemption from requirements to present the basis of the claim. This could have been really bad.

I make less than $40,000 a year and have had trouble the last 3 or so years with owing money every year. Yes, I take out less than what I should. However, I make payment arrangements with the IRS and pay it off before the next year is due. This year, I'm making a concerted effort to let my company withold more to battle this problem. The last thing I need is a schmuck debt collector calling me about what I owe!
I still think it would be much simpler and save the government money to just have a flat tax on everybody, no matter what they make. What is so hard about doing that?

I'm not so sure collection agencies are the answer but I am sure we do need to do something to get these unpaid taxes paid immediately. Maybe President Bush could push the war in Iraq a little to one side and address issues on the home front as this one is one among many that needs his immediate attention

If I am not mistaken, the IRS is one of the governmental agencies that a great portion of our taxes dollars are spent on. If they can't do the job efficiently or effectively fix the problem, or stop spending so many of our taxes dollars on such gross incompentency. This is simply another case of the government pandering to lobbyists. When will we citizens take the time and energy to tell the government enough is enough?

I agree so much with Chris Dexter. Our government has become so corrupt that I am not only ashamed of the whole bunch in Congress but fearful for the future of this country. If we, as citizens, could band together and have another "Boston tea party" and throw the whole bunch out and start over, it might make the next group in think twice before they sell the citizens (who put them there), down river, but they need to outlaw and get rid of lobbyists. I am so tired of being sold out by my elected officials because they want a free perk while I struggle just to pay for prescriptions, food, clothes or housing. Our "elected" officials are immoral ingrates that don't care about the American citizens but about "what's in it for me", and when a lobbyist comes "a callin" were sold out to a collection agency, a pharmaceutical company, an oil company, the insurance industry, etc. I thought we threw out "King George" back in the 1700's?

You've got to be kidding! I am a collector by profession (and I do abide by The Fair Debt Collection Pratices Act) If IRS needs to replace their staff to do the job their current collection staff can't seem to get done, tell IRS to contact me and others just like me. Your tax dollars at work for you? America WAKE UP!!!!
This is a prime example of wasteful government spending. Collect it yourself IRS and do not outsource if the cases are that simple!

I have been a federal tax collector for almost twenty years and just like my fellow co-workers, I am greatly troubled by private debt collectors collecting federal taxes. Privacy is upmost important and federal employees can lose their jobs if they do not protect privacy of their clients or if they access accounts that they should not. What measures have been taken to ensure the American public that their privacy will be protected? Instead of hiring private collectors, our Congressman should appropriate more funds to the IRS to hire the personnel to do so. Our baby boomers are retiring and there are NOT enough qualified people being hired to replace them to collect the taxes. Why is congress so intent on setting up the government to fail so miserably? Personally I believe it is a total waste of taxpayer money to hire private collectors. And as a taxpayer like 80% of most Americans, I am angry that our dollars are being wasted. The 20% of Americans (generous percentages here)that choose not to pay should be dealt with accordingly by federal tax collectors who have the tools to take enforcement action to collect.

Yet another example of cronycapitalism, that unholy alliance between government and big business which conservatives mislabel "privatization" and "free market mechanisms" when they are nothing of the sort. When will this country wake up and realize the problem is not government per se, nor government run social programs, nor government intervention to keep markets competitive? No, the problem is government at the service of big business. The problem is cronycapitalism.

As a debt collector myself I can see both the positive and negative side of this issue. Too often when a person hears the word "debt collector" they instantly remember the one or two negative dealings with a debt collector and fail to remember that this one debt collector doesn't represent the industry as a whole. As a taxpayer myself I whole heartedly regard this as a good idea. There should be provisions however, such as a complaint line(as was mentioned before), and close government supervision. I am sure I've forgotten some other provisions but you get the picture.In order to ever get this debt paid a culture of paying must be established, unless the government is willing to bring on more employees to maintain consistency and follow through this will just be a joke to the debtors. An outside collection agency is already set up and able to handle large volumes of accounts, and has the man power to make sure that follow-up is done. As with any new program or otherwise, there will be flaws, it is our job as American citizens to make sure those flaws get corrected, so rather then hem and haw at the present circumstances, we should be proactive in providing solutions to this problem.

Response to Vic in SC: Only in BushWorld, that's where

In response to Vic in SC: Only in BushWorld, that's where.

Most collection agencies are little more than legalized thugs and shakedown artists.

I agree with chris, the entire system is corrupt beyond repair and you cant trust any politician, even one you think you can trust. The tax system in this country is so lopsided it is just a matter of time before the middle class in this country collaspses because we are the ones paying the taxes that the rich dont have to pay and the poor cannot afford to pay. its alot like the joke we call social security, too many people taking out and not enough people putting in. Our government is so worried about taking care of the rest of the world they have emptied the pockets of the american taxpayer and said give me more. We need a drastic change in our system of government and we need it now..

Notwithstanding the author's one-sided opinion of the collection industry, paying taxes is one of the obligations of the american citizenry that is in exchange for the numerous services and priviliges we have by virtue of our residence in the United States. Given the huge problem of uncollected taxes, I applaud the decision to engage the collection industry. If people's mostly unfounded fear of the collection industry is really that big, I suggest each one of these tax evaders call the IRS and offer to pay 75% of their bad debt tax bill. That way everybody wins.

Why does everybody assume that the collection agencies will automatically start harrasing everybody the day after the bill is due. Most of the time the accounts that they are talking about are the accounts that have been owed for a long period of time even years, and after that long most of these people owe quite a lot of money and have been given ample time in which they could have made arrangments to pay it but did not. If you have a business and someone does not pay you would you not eventually hire someone to help you collect what is owed to you. I agree that regulation of the system and oversight of the collection company's involved is a must.

MY office will take the IRS collections business.

Unfortunately people I am all for it. I am 26 female and been doing collections since I was 15 (HAD A WORKERS PERMIT TO WORK UNDER AGE) But to be honest people have this bad idea of collection agencies from the get go. I deal with many times of people from the poor to the rich, from small companies like sole proprietorships to major incorporated companies.
For some reason most people even the article for example claims we are harassing automatically off the bat. I have been doing this awhile and I have had my fair share of people cussing me out, just from announcing what type of company name. I have also had many people thank me for helping them a few have stated you’re not like what people paint the picture of.
I can say reason the where not like that is due to business professionalism, compliance with the FDCPA, UCC, FCRA, FTC, & etc., I could go on and on with state and federal regulations. I have been doing this for awhile and worked with the best in the industry. If we where to handle ourselves like they way people paint the picture. We would be getting sued left and right, personally fined and the company would have a fine as well.
Is it harassing to call someone for the money they owe? Of course it’s not. People don’t like to hear that but has to be done. I have yet to meet a collector who has been sued. I am not saying it’s happening but it’s not what people think.
I have had many people thank me over the course of the years how there experience with a collection agency is not that bad. On the other hand I have had my handful of people who hate my guts.
I like to think like this “COLLECTION AGENCIES MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND” Pretty much all companies at one time or another have to deal with a financial loss, some more than others. Eventually the losses can add up the millions. With out debt recovery we would have more companies out of business. Many companies and individuals are grateful for our services.
FYI- the people who paint the bad picture are usually the ones who don’t pay their bills or the ones we had to recommend our client to file suit against them.
PEOPLE DON’T THINK COLLECTION AGENCIES DON’T SUE. OF COURSE NOT!!! BUT OUR ATTORNEY DOES…LOL. GOOD DAY!!!!

Great, just what this country needs. More pissed off citizens! Especially in a time when identity theft is rampant. What people need to realize is, these debt collectors are almost made up of scum, which is how they will treat you if you owe.

I agree with most of the comments here... if you owe, you pay, but not everyone's situation is the same. Everyone has different circumstances that these debt collectors could really give a rats flying butt about.

Check out http://www.budhibbs.com/coll_to_avoid_list.htm for more information about these collection agencies.

I work in the tax industry and I see dozens of people trying to and taking illegal advantage of the system. Husbands and wives both filing as head of household, claiming they don't live together but putting the same address on their returns. People trying to claim parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, and if the social security number has been used they scramble to find another one. If I.R.S. would hire people to not only collect debts but to make sure this kind of thing is a rarity and not common place the money saved would be staggering. The whole system needs to be revamped.

This is the worst Idea ever of cource if the government had more people and better structured controls they would not have to be doing this. The fact is the amount they are willing to give to one of the worst industries in the country they could be paying some people who were outsourced to do it. I mean seriously. The only reason why most of the collectors make money is that there business process is so organized and streamlined that all the need to know is the who and the what and they get to work. The IRS knows the who what when where how and why plus the resources to collect but as with everything else in washington organized confusion will never get anything accomplished.

I am still undecided as to my feelings on this subject, but every other time the federal government has messed with private industry it's turned out bad. The mess that privatizing some education (I'm a public school teacher)has shown me that mixing public and private isn't such a good idea.

Show me the law that says the IRS has the right to tax my income at all. Show me the law.

That's all us "deadbeats" and "cheaters" want.

Show us the law. Period.

You cannot justify a tax on the American people's labor Constitutionally, nor can you justify the horrendous institution of the "Federal" Reserve, which is no more Federal than Federal Express, which prints debt "promise to pay" notes out of absolutely nothing.

This organization has taken over the country, people. Are you blind? Have you no idea what the founders of this great country said about Central Bank power?

Look it up.

Your decendents will wake up paupers on the land you conquered for them.

Read the Communist Manifesto, note the planks mentioned.

A heavy progressive income tax. Check.

A Central Bank. Check.

What's next people?

You ought to seriously look at how Constitutional this "income tax" really is or is not before you label people who try to pay as little as possible "deadbeats" and "cheaters".

The face is, this country was founded by people who were SICK and TIRED of "taxation without representation, and you'd be good to remember that, people.

It's patriotic to pay as little to the Government as possible.

ESPECIALLY since you KNOW 10% at least is going to buy BOMBS to kill innocent people in foreign lands so you can drive your cursed SUV's you love so much.

Private agencies can do a better job than the "new and improved" IRS. I say let them go after the lying lowdown cheating tax evaders. i pay my taxes every year so pay yours. you deadbeats get what you deserve..i hope the collection agencies rip you a new one.

I cannot understand how our government can even begin to justify their privatizing debt collections. It seems they should concentrate on what the real problem is and that is why the IRS can't seem to find the time to collect taxes.I thought that was the fundamental reason for the IRS agency.

I worked for the IRS many years and these comments are true. The IRS would rather belittle their employees than to go and collect the funds owed by thousands. I was fired and reinstated but let go because of a insecure manager and staff that was prejudice against men and older employees. They were just not put in the right jobs. But the IRS set out to undermind and belittle them in every way they knew how and then fired them for trival matters. They should have been teaching them how to collect back taxes from deadbeats (mostly the rich). I know this first hand. Kill these 3 companies and make the IRS do what they are supposed to do. Millions of dollars were spent to put up new buildings in New Carrollton. Put them to work. It's not such a hard thing to do. Get the employees off their asses and collect these funds.

Anyone reading the comments of an uninteligable "Federal Employee" and anonymous "Laid off Auto-worker from Detroit" would take a step back and say Houston, we have a problem.

WHEN the government is crying poor and farming out business to private companies - those KNOWN to act indiscriminately - we need to ask ourselves what in the world went wrong? Spending billions in Iraq and yet the IRS is too poor to send a letter of collection. It seems that if they were a bit more selective with their letter-writing collection campagning, i.e. targeting big businesses, they'd have so much cash they wouldn't be worried about the little guys.

I worked for the IRS many years and these comments are true. The IRS would rather belittle their employees than to go and collect the funds owed by thousands. I was fired and reinstated but let go because of a insecure manager and staff that was prejudice against men and older employees. They were just not put in the right jobs. But the IRS set out to undermind and belittle them in every way they knew how and then fired them for trival matters. They should have been teaching them how to collect back taxes from deadbeats (mostly the rich). I know this first hand. Kill these 3 companies and make the IRS do what they are supposed to do. Millions of dollars were spent to put up new buildings in New Carrollton. Put them to work. It's not such a hard thing to do. Get the employees off their asses and collect these funds.

Penalties for non-payment of federal taxes are criminal. Taxes are imposable only by the government. The government is responsible directly
to the citizen. No government should be permitted to
shield itself from accountability by introducing a
'buffer' in the form of a private collector. Can hear it now: "Hello, you have reached the offices of ABC Collection (outsourced to personnel from Manila). Be advised we are a bill collector. We cannot and will not answer any question you have about your tax liability. To avoid further penalties
have your credit card number ready. The automated menu will direct you how to make you payment." These folks have zero responsibility, take it from one who paid a bill in full and on time to AOL through the phone company, only to be hounded relentlessly by an AOL collector for 'nonpayment'
on the theory that the phone company didn't give them the money. AOL won't answer questions. The collector won't answer questions. At least two daily
recorded messages. When are we 'the people' going to
call a halt to handing over all rights and protections to greedy corporations who can afford to
fund our 'representatives' political campaigns?

Debt collectors are already being used to collect student loan debts, and that has actually worked out ok. This is nothing new.

Here we go again. The government is basically giving citzen's private information to an entity that will misuse and abuse it. Now in addition to sending all our consumer data to countries that are not that stable like India because the government does nothing to stop Corporate America sending jobs to these countries, now they want to give debt collection agencies personal tax information. Debt collection agencies are sleezy companies that prey on consumers that are having a difficult time pay their bills. Granted there are people that just do not want to pay their bills, but in many cases they can't. Collection agencies put on a great show for regulators and clients but underneath they break or skirt every rule and regulation to get their money. You can put makeup and a dress on a pig but at the end of the day it is still a pig. When are the American people going to wake up and stop taking the crap the government keeps telling us and prevent some of these actions they are taking that will hurt us down the road. Remember it is supposed to be government by the people, not people controlled by the government. We are stronger in numbers and we should ban together to stop these politicans from making really bad decisions.

IRS & P.A.B.(Professional Adjustment Bureau; don't know where the head office is, but they have a branch in Springfield, IL)???? That's like Hitler & Moussolini Part II. TRUE STORY: I owed a hospital bill of $150.00. Because of the hospitalization, my paychecks were short, so I was sending $20/mo THROUGH THE MAIL, on my payday AS AGREED. Why was it MY fault that delivery was sporadic? Long story short, I got turned over to P.A.B. with only 4 payments to go. They, of course, added all these penalties & interest and the debt jumped to $280. As I continued to make the payments AS AGREED, mail delivery never improved and I was taken to court by P.A.B. Naturally, they won; they even provided me with envelopes for my payments. Can you guess what happened next? Got it in one: my paycheck was garnished to the tune of $179, which of course messed up all kinds of payment agreements with other creditors (Thank God they, at least, were adult about it and worked with me on the one missed month, even though they, too, were receiving mailed payments late.) Think this was finally over? Oh no, it was just beginning: I was paid off in February. When I tried to finance a home in September, guess what popped up on my credit report? I called P.A.B. and was told the release was filed with the county clerks office. Went there (on my lunch hour-no lunch today!), no release. Called P.A.B. back. They insisted it was filed and that they were done. If I just HAD to, I could come over and pick up a copy of their filing and take it to the county clerk and file it on my own. Didn't I just pay you people to do it? So I go to pick up the copy (I don't have a car; I had to ask a friend to come and get me ON MY LUNCH HOUR AGAIN and give him $5 to do it) and it's not ready; she's at lunch and no one can xerox it for me. So I go back the NEXT day (ANOTHER LUNCH HOUR-I'm going to starve to death before I ever get this straightend out!!). The next day, I have to go downtown to file the copy that I paid these idiots to file with the county clerk in the first place. (ONE MORE LUNCH HOUR). This is by no means unusual; it happens every day, it's just that most people don't have the time or means to complain. I did write a letter to the president of the company and a received a snide reply referencing the trouble with the US Postal Service and ignoring it in the same sentence. And because, like most people, I didn't have the time or resources to deal with the injustice, I basically got screwed. This is what WILL happen to 97% of the people who will be turned over to the "enforcers", whether they actuallly owe the money or not. Think it won't get worse? Think again, in 2-3 years, the collections will be outsourced to India. Not only will you try to deal with a smart-mouthed moron, this moron will not be able to understand English. Remember, politicians and lawmakers always speak of "The American People". I take this to mean that there are 2 groups in this country: "The American People" and the "Citizens", i.e. the politicians, lawmakers, lobbyists, big business, etc. To paraphrase Dickens: "God save us, every one!"

I find this issue extremely distasteful and potentially terrifying. Like some posters, I've dealt with the IRS and debt collectors and I would rather deal with the IRS any day of the week. Its obvious that many of the debt collector companies do not follow the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, so who is supposed to protect us from the new big, bad wolf? The IRS? I don't believe it and based on what the article has said, they would have no need to protect the consumer from debt collectors.

Just another example of this Administration and Congress abdicating their constitutional responsibilities in favor of private sector profits.

This is only one more instance where our government is ready and willing to disrupt a system that was set in motion for the good of its citizens. The reason that tax collection has become so down right dismal if because the IRS has not done its job, and has allowed so many tax payers to get away with paying their fair share for so long. Now, the IRS figures that their agency is not qualified to collect, so they'll allow the mean debt collectors to do what they should have being doing all along.

I would rather work directly with the IRS. NO ONE ESLE, PLEASE. Thanks for the feedback of other concerned tax paying Americans.

Taxes are a percentage of your income. That doesn't change whether or not your friends pay their taxes, so this argument of increased tax load doesn't make sense. Also, the gov't going to spend want they want with no regard to amount collected. Just increase the deficit

Totally think that the IRS should be debt collecting. But THEY should be doing it, not hiring it out. I have acquaintances that do not pay their taxes and it irritates me to no end. I know life ain't fair, but at least we should try to make it fair.

What's not discussed is whether the IRS is providing bulk records to these collection agencies - even if nothing is owed the IRS. I go to great efforts to make sure credit bureaus/choicepoint/lexus do not have my info and would be outraged if this info is provided to credit bureaus (which exchanged to/from collectors).

In addition to going after the deadbeats, they need to do something about the huge amount of tax money that isn't paid because the unqualified part-timers at H&R Block lied on their client's returns, cheating the IRS out of the tax due.

Bob,

I think you're being a little unfair to people who may have honestly gotten behind on their tax obligations due to medical reasons, accounting errors, trusting shady preparers or tax firms, or just plain old dumb mistakes. It happens. Not everyone who misses a tax deadline is automatically a deadbeat or cheat.

That statistic you cite came from a report that claimed the biggest source of tax underpayment was small business and self-owned companies. There's a deliberate push in this country to make entrepreneurship as difficult as possible, and making the tax (and bankruptcy laws) as draconian as needs be is part of that.

I completely oppose the idea of privatizing the collections system, as it will lead to abuse, fraud, and immense frustration for anyone dealing with it. But your rhetoric is exactly the kind of thing pro-privatization forces use. "Well, they're all just deadbeats and cheats, so they deserve what they get."

Rare misstep here, Bob. You should know better, but you're almost always dead-on, so I forgive you. :)

Fox watching the hen house!!!

Wonderful....one nameless, faceless, apathetic agency (US Government) subcontracting another nameless, faceless apathetic industry (collection agencies).

I love my country with all my heart and I pay my taxes in full, albeit reluctantly given the gross abuse and misappropriation of my tax dollars. But love of country does not change the fact that the US government is a bloated ball of red tape seemingly filled with 99 apathetic and disgruntled government workers for every 1 quality employee.

Collection agencies are the definitely the bottom of the bottom feeders. The companies and the people working for them don’t care one bit about their targets. Someone said you owe someone some money and they bought the debt, so pay up and don’t ask no stinkin’ questions. Pay up or we ruin your credit. Just one shade of grey away from “Pay up or we break you knee caps.”

The US government subbing out collections to these pathetic collection companies is just another case of the oblivious leading the oblivious.

Aside from US citizens who don't pay their fair share, what about the illegal immigrants which our government wants to give amnesty to if they have been here working illegally for more than 5 years? If they are not required to pay all back taxes and penalties, why should any US citizen be required to?

Damien, you might want to read the Constitution, specifically the 16th Amendment. That is where the governement is given the right to tax your income. the rest of your letter was equally mindless.

As intelligent as this article is, instead of spouting your opinion for others to read, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go to Moveon.org and/or ImpeachBush.org. These things are so grounded in greed that we must stop being apathetic and start joining forces if there is going to be anything left for our children.

Also please read Not OK re: New Orleans!

Also alot of people think debt collectors is some Mickey D's Job,, Yeah right,, Us collectors make bank if your working for the right company. The payroll is lovely. I am proud of what I do it's my career and the experience you get can take you a long way!!!!!!! The company I work for is in the top 25 hunred of the Nation. No cap on your commisions for the company I work for. It doesn't get any better than that. Hall_le_lue_yeah!!!!

I worked for one of the three collections companies the IRS has chosen. They are sloppy with protection of personal data. They regularly lie to debtors during collections of other debt, so I imagine they'll do the same with IRS debt. The way to stop this from working is for anyone who receives a call from them is to simply hang up and refuse to talk with them.

This is not just a REPUBLICAN problem, it is a GOVERNMENT problem

Taxation without representation, thats what we have in this fair country. Combine that with a President who is a little Hitler man are we in trouble.

just check out: www.givemeliberty.org
you will see whats REALLY going to happen to the ROTTEN IRS theives its only a matter of time now.
ADIOS!!!

I won't begin to tell the horror story I went through when I lost a very good paying job due to downsizing and then nearly went 100% disabled 3 months later . . . all at nearly 60 years of age. After about 2 years I was able to get a part time job earning less than $12,000 a year. Then guess what!

The freaking IRS garnishes my wages to the tune of $300 per month because I hadn't paid my taxes for two years! Let me tell you. Anything and everyone connected to the government are fools, morons, idiots, and totally corrupt. They are worthless incompetents. I completely disdain anyone who is on the government payroll!

The MAFIA still lives! It's called the IRS.

$300b in unpaid taxes and in the government can't figure out how to collect this money, give me a break. Very clear the government does not want to collect the taxes as they could spend $100m and hire the people and more importants build programs that will find the bank accounts of the deadbeats. Any business in the world would take that kind of return on investment. Pretty safe bet all of the tax deadbeat in congress and their cronies won't be getting collection calls. Time for a national sales tax and disbanding of the IRS.

It's simple, allow tax payers to pay 50 cents on the dollar during 2-3 months out of the year. This will collect more money and keep it out of the greedy hands of the collectors

I think its time for another Tea Party.

This is, unfortunately, a multi-faceted issue that deserves a VERY careful look at cause-and-effect. If the IRS could successfully raise the funds from unpaid tax debt, then they wouldn't feel the need to privatize (sp?) the collection of that debt. They could also afford to hire the required amount of full-time staff dedicated to the same tax debt collection. However, they cannot raise the money, so they have to HIRE SOMEONE TO DO IT FOR THEM (scratching my head at this point...). The collection agencies then collect about 50-75 cents on the dollar for the government and keep what's left over. Now the government has the money to hire people to collect outstanding tax debt, yet the collections agencies, now proven effective (in theory) have made themselves TOO VALUABLE TO THE GOVERNMENT TO TERMINATE THEIR SERVICES. What to do, what to do...? The government gets the money they so desperately need, yet they are now in bed with "strange bedfellows". Then they are forced to continue to do business with an industry that will "cry foul" when they are no longer needed, citing the massive loss of jobs (which were probably outsourced to a foreign country anyway). The collections agencies will then sue to keep the contracts, that the government no longer wants to honor, and more time, energy and money will be wasted on an already bad idea to begin with. AND THEN there's the issue of information privacy. The pundits of information security tell "us" not to give out your social security number TO ANYONE, yet the collection agencies, representing themselves as agents of the United States Government (the IRS specifically) will have this info and one "bad apple" per agency can wreak untold amounts of chaos on thousands and thousands of lives on a whim.
This just seems like a bad idea across the board. I'm not a government employee, laid off worker or some "expert" on government agencies or debt collections. I'm just a regular guy, with regular problems that is just using a little "non-rebellious common sense" to see that this idea is a no-win.

In this a country of laws, for, by, and of the people, it seems strange that our government has chosen to ignore the law. By not deporting those in this country illegaly they have in essence told the people of the U.S.A that the laws no longer matter.
Thus, we the people need to question weather or not this government can or should be trusted with the running of this country. The theft of a persons ID is a crime, the entry into the U.S.A illegaly is a crime, to grant criminals who do eather of these things thus, IS A CRIME. If the government does anything other than remove all of the criminals from our nation, through whatever means, than they are commiting a crime, as they have violated thier oath of office and are therefore guilty of an act of treason.

I pay my bills on time every month and shouldn't have to deal with bill collectors. However, at least 3 times a week I have to talk to one since the last person to have my phone number apparently didn't share my financial responsibility. My biggest problem with this is that I've had the same number for THREE YEARS. No matter how much I explain this to them they NEVER STOP CALLING. I still try to be as polite as possible when they call but how much patience do you expect me to have when I have followed all their "procedures" to fix the mistake. Bill collectors don't care about the person they are calling and the majority of them are incapable of speaking without sounding rude and accusatory. I can't wait to start getting calls about tax bills, at least it'll be a change of pace.

I'm in favor. Let third party debt collectors go after those deadbeats and thieves who can't manage to pay their taxes like the rest of us. Not making any excuses why the IRS hasn't done so itself, but why wait any longer?

EVERYONE needs to be familiar with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. See this URL:

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm

Print it out, keep it by your phone. This document says what collectors may NOT do, and SPECIFICALLY how they may do what they do.

Protect yourselves. My ex was a debt collector, and he was very abusive. He totally took advantage of people who didn't know about the "FDCPA".

In reading over the comments, I noticed MsJIMENEZ of Tuscon,AZ, has submitted two. Not to personally attack the writer, but did anyone else notice the number mispellings and grammatical mistakes? I hope it was just the passion of the subject and not an indication of how records are kept in the collection industry that she's been a part of for 11 years!!

It seems to me our financial rights are right out the window. My husband has his own business which he has been struggling with for over two years. He made less than 20,000 last year and he owes the government! We are at the poverty level and he had to pay 2700.00 dollars to taxes. How does anyone expect to survive? We also have a 19 month old child to support. Hardly fair. However, on the other hand, I have done some collections and even though I hated it I remember how everytime I tried to give someone a break with their balances by offering to let them pay low payments and by getting rid of all the fees and finance charges they would never stick to our agreement and would began defaulting on their balances over and over again. I once had a hospital bill when I was 20 years old. I paid 10 to 15 dollars a month for 4 years before it was paid off but I did it. I have done the same with dentist bills and other balances and though it takes many years I have found that it is easier to work with the companies, then to fight them. I believe that the American people are too needy and tend to live above their means. I know I have. If you cant afford it, dont buy it. We dont all need big screen TV's and 600 channels of cable to live comfortably. I learned that the hard way. A word of advice for all of us; Live simple and learn to enjoy life, not things.

, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD PATTI FROM IL, I AM NOT AT WORK I DONT NEED TO BE CORRECT, HERE IN THESE NOTES IF I WANT TO MISPELL OR MAKE ERRORS I WILL DO THAT BECAUSE,I CAN ,, WHAT I DO HERE DEOSN'T REFLECT MY WORK,,THAT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING TO MY WORK,, JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE ONE OF THE 99% OF THE PEOPLE AGAINST IT, OF COURSE YOUR GOING TO KNOCK THE UNDER DOG.. BUT IT'S OKAY.. AT LEAST YOU COULD OF MADE REFRENCE TO THE ARTICLE INSTEAD OF " NOT PERSONALLY ATTACKING THE WRITTER" (BUT YET YOUR GOING TO DO IT ANYWAYS..LOL) YOUR KILLING ME PATTI,, YEAH BUT ANYWAYS I DON'T AGREE WITH THE IRS AND HALF THE STUFF THAT GOES ON OR MUCHLESS THE GOVERNMENT AT THAT. BUT YOU GOT PAPER TO COLLECT THROW IT OVER HERE. MORE MONEY FOR ME ,, AND ASA FROM ALBUQUERQUE, I AM FROM THERE THAT IS MY HOME STATE AND THE INCOME IN NM IS JUST LOW IN GENERAL,,BUT DO WISH THE BEST OF LUCK TO YOU.

OH YEAH P.S.S. PATTI ,, I AM STILL YOUNG 26 AND DUMB AND WELL YOU KNOW HOW THE REST GOES, WITH A SIX FIGURE INCOME.. I DONT NEED TO BE CORRECT, I ALREADY MADE IT. I DONT NEED TO BE ON MY PEE'S AND QUE'S,, HOW YOU LKIE TAHT SPELILNG..IT WROKS 4 MEEE!!! LOL

First off, the idea that collections people will abide by rules, and be monitored by the IRS is fantasy. The IRS makes its own share of mistakes and the idea that our private inforamtion will be on the computers at Convergy's and the like should scare hell out of everyone. Privatizing the IRS and their collections is a bad idea period! That said I have a few more comments. After reading most of the posts I have to say that I find it utterly amazing how uninformed so many people are, and I find the number of people who obviously live by a creed of "somebody told me that so it must be true" beyond belief. We have the party who is "close" to a retired 30 year IRS employee saying the greatest number of deadbeats are the middle class? Hello, but I live with an IRS tax examiner and thats a flat out lie. The middle class gets no relief and is the easiest to get the cash out of nimrod. If Joe Average owes $1000 the IRS sends a couple letters then proceeds to freeze all banking assets and wages. Its easy money and they don't negotiate. Now if your Joe Moneybags who owes $100,000, you get put on a ridiculous payment plan that will take 50 years to pay in full, and thats if you don't add in the next years taxes due and the next and the next and their balance due keeps growing yearly, but they as long as they continue to pay the agreed upon pittance amount all is well. Then there is the person who thinks all IRS employees owe taxes (and their families) and that is plain stupid. IRS employee are not even allowed to use the payment plans every Americans who owes taxes can use. They are not allowed to even file late or they can be fired. And as far as "fixing" tax bills for relatives, if an IRS employee even views the tax records of someone they know personally they CAN be fired. View a relative and they WILL be fired. The IRS is not ever going to be the favorite of many Americans but someone has to pay for the roads, the military, the air controllers and a thousand more necesssary services. These days the IRS likely gets less of your money than the gas station in a years time, and to be honest what frosts us the most is seeing the number of people who made a million dollars a year or more, and pay less in taxes than we do at $75,000 a year. Back on topic, again the IRS and private collections is just opening the door to greater identity theft and fraud in numbers beyond any we have seen to date, but sadly no matter how loud we howl? IT WILL HAPPEN. GRIN AND BEAR IT!

Last posting on this subject(the entire concept is absurd, which means it will be implemented with all due speed). Thank you Ms.Jimenez for proving my point!!

The IRS has never had any problem hunting me down or placing liens on my accounts and wages to collect past due taxes. I have been on a payment plan with the IRS for many years now. There is not much wiggle room to work with them at all in fact they tell me what I will pay. I do get to choose the day of the month I get to pay.
It seems to me that the collection companies could instead use the help of the IRS to collect past due amounts. It doesn't take the IRS much time or muscle to get the job done.

I've never had to deal with the IRS, and I'm thankful for that. I have, however, had to deal with debt collectors, mostly at work (I work for the PA state government) for employees who worked there prior to me. I explain to these people (often 3-4 times a week) that the ex-employee they are seeking no longer works there, and they get so apologetic, stating they will remove the number from the file, etc, only to have a new collector call, looking for the very same person, the very next day.
I believe it is high time that we who DO pay our bills on time, and do our best to create stability in our finances rise up against this type of behavior. Last time I checked, it was against the law to harrass another individual for debt that is not theirs.

11-20 million illegals who strain our school budgets, our hospitals, our social services, even our language, you actually have to learn Spanish in public schools. I also read somewhere there is about 20 BILLION American dollars sent to Mexico each year to supporting their economy, and taking from ours. We are in an social-economic war, and have already been invaded, the question is do we fight or roll-over?
They should be considered prisoners of war, be detained and deported post haste.
-Tom, FL