Slate - The IRS Is Using Private Debt Collectors Again 12 27 And it may not end well.
by Adam Chodorow
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2017/04/the_irs_is_using_private_debt_collectors_again_that_s_a_problem.html
Last year, Congress authorized the Internal Revenue Service to use private debt collectors to go after unpaid tax liabilities—and this month, if you are one of the unfortunate, you may have already had the pleasure first-hand. The U.S. Treasury hopes to assign up to 1,000 delinquent accounts a month to each of four different companies, which will be able to keep 25 percent of the tax bills they collect.
We’ve been here before—twice, in fact—and the government actually lost money. It is not at all clear why this time should be different. And even if the program does save the government money, as its proponents promise, turning over delinquent tax accounts to private debt collectors raises a host of issues that should give us pause.
First, there is the philosophical question of whether certain government functions are just too important to turn over to private contractors. Private business is reputed to be more efficient and effective than government. We already outsource garbage collection. Why not tax collection?
Being a tax law professor, I may be biased, but I think tax collection is different. Administering the tax system lies at the heart of the government’s duties, and hiring private collectors is different from hiring private garbage collectors. Taxes are one of the few ways people interact directly with their government. How they are collected has the potential to shape our view of the government and our obligations as citizens. Just ask the folks at United how even one bad experience can affect public perceptions.
snip - much more to read at the link above.
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