[Decision Concerning Assessment of Penalties on Delinquent Debts Owed to VA]

The Veteran Administration (VA) requested an opinion regarding whether it should assess late payment penalties on delinquent VA program debts under the Debt Collection Act of 1982. GAO held that: (1) VA had a statutory mandate to assess interest and administrative costs on its program debts; and (2) the act's provisions deferred to previously enacted statutes that covered the same ground. Accordingly, the act's penalty assessment provisions should not be applied to VA program debts.