[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14153]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




ON THE INTRODUCTION OF THE TAXPAYER ABUSE PREVENTION RESOLUTION OF 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, June 9, 2003

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker today I am introducing the Taxpayer Abuse 
Prevention Resolution of 2003, a resolution expressing the sense of 
Congress that private sector debt collection agencies should not be 
paid on a commission basis or as a percent of the amount of federal 
taxes they collect.
  The Internal Revenue Service has proposed paying private debt 
collectors a 25 percent commission to collect unpaid tax debt. That 
proposal will jeopardize the rights and privacy of American taxpayers. 
The following organizations oppose the IRS proposal and have expressed 
their strong support for this important consumer protection legislation 
I am introducing today: Citizens for Tax Justice, Consumer Federation 
of America, Consumers Union, National Consumer Law Center, National 
Consumers League.
  Two pilot projects were authorized by Congress to test private 
collection of tax debt for 1996 and 1997. The 1996 pilot was such a 
failure that the 1997 project was cancelled. Contractors violated the 
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and did not protect the 
security of personal taxpayer information. An IRS Internal Audit Report 
found that contractors made hundreds of calls to taxpayers during times 
prohibited by the FDCPA, and that calls were even placed as early as 
4:19 a.m.
  The Administration's proposal to privatize tax collection services 
flies in the face of Section 1204 of the IRS Reform and Restructuring 
Act of 1998, which specifically prevents IRS employees from being 
evaluated on the basis of the amount of taxes they collect in order to 
eliminate incentives to use overly aggressive tax collection 
techniques. Despite concerns about aggressive collection techniques, 
the Administration now wants to pay private debt collectors $3.25 
billion in commissions to collect taxes that IRS employees could 
collect for roughly one-tenth of that amount.
  Paying private debt collectors on a commission basis will be costly 
and will threaten the rights and privacy of the American taxpayers. We 
must ensure, as this resolution seeks to do, that federal tax 
collection functions will not be handed over to private sector bounty 
hunters. Our constituents deserve that assurance.
  Mr. Speaker, American taxpayers need to know that their government 
works for them, not against them. I urge this Congress to pass the 
Taxpayer Abuse Prevention Resolution of 2003.

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