WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is eliminating a program that uses private debt collectors to go after tax delinquents, the agency announced Thursday evening.
The decision came after the IRS reviewed the program and determined that IRS employees could better do the work.
The program has brought in a little more than $80 million since it was started in 2006. But it has caused big political headaches for the IRS.
The union representing IRS workers and the National Taxpayer Advocate, an independent ombudsman within the IRS, oppose the program, as do some Democrats in Congress. Other powerful lawmakers from both political parties support it.
Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said the program should never have been started.
Under the program, the IRS turns over delinquency cases, often in the $5,000 to $10,000 range, that the IRS lacks the manpower to pursue.
Private contractors keep about a quarter of the taxes they collect.
