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Views on House Bill 3741

B-202109 Published: Aug 04, 1981. Publicly Released: Aug 04, 1981.
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GAO supports the purpose of proposed legislation to increase the efficiency of Government-wide efforts to collect debts owed the United States. It would remove a number of current impediments to Federal collection efforts and provide needed additional collection tools. In addition, GAO recommends that the bill include a provision for offset of delinquent debts against Federal tax refunds due to debtors. Necessary safeguards to protect debtors against arbitrary offset actions can and must be instituted. Procedures for offset should be thoroughly tested prior to full implementation. GAO favors legislation requiring the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to offset nontax debts on the basis of interagency agreements worked out between IRS and the Federal agencies wishing to refer debts for offset, with the Attorney General having a consultation role in the development of such agreements. This would clearly provide IRS statutory authority for offset and a mandate to follow through to the extent appropriate procedures could be worked out. The interagency agreement would provide a mechanism for resolving due process and other procedural issues. This legislative approach would lend itself to gradual implementation. Congress might express an intent that IRS work out an agreement with one agency and test that first, rather than attempting to work out a series of agreements at the outset. Language should be added to forestall any concern over using consumer reporting agencies for credit reports and locator services. GAO strongly favors removing any restrictions on redisclosure of IRS mailing address information. These restrictions prevent Federal agencies from fully carrying out their collection responsibilities, and any possible invasion of taxpayer privacy which might result from the redisclosure of an IRS mailing address is minimal.

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Topics

Collection proceduresDebt collectionInformation disclosureInteragency relationsProposed legislationTax administrationTax lawTax refundsFederal agenciesCredit bureaus