United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2007-05-23 monographic deposited born digital 12 p. GA 1.13:GAO-07-890T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-890T P0b002ee180386f19 f:d07890t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-890T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-890T GAO-07-890T Debt collection Delinquent taxes Program evaluation Statistical methods Surveys Tax administration Tax consultants Taxes Taxpayers Data collection Testimony A69851

Every year the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does not collect tens of billions of dollars in delinquent taxes. In 2004, Congress authorized IRS to use private collection agencies (PCA) to help collect some of these debts. To ensure that taxpayers are treated properly and that the program achieves the desired results, IRS contracted with a consulting company to perform a survey of right party contacts--those individuals who confirmed their identity and tax debt to PCAs over the telephone. The consulting company reported overall taxpayer satisfaction ratings from 94 to 96 percent for contacts made from November 2006 through February 2007. At the request of the Chairman, House Committee on Ways and Means, GAO attempted to obtain, for the period September 2006 through February 2007, the number of tax debt cases IRS referred to PCAs, right party contacts who were offered the taxpayer survey, and right party contacts who took the survey. GAO was also asked to report any other key observations related to the PCA program and taxpayer survey. To perform this work, GAO collected information and interviewed officials from IRS, the consulting group that administered the survey, and the PCAs. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-890T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-890T.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-890T/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-890T.pdf GAO-07-890T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-890T Testimony GAO-07-890T; Tax Debt Collection: Measuring Taxpayer Opinions Regarding Private Collection Agencies; Debt collection Delinquent taxes Program evaluation Statistical methods Surveys Tax administration Tax consultants Taxes Taxpayers Data collection Title 26 Section 6306 26 U.S.C. 6306 Volume 118 Page 1418 118 Stat. 1418 Public Law 108-357