The Internal Revenue Service has begun using private debt-collection companies to pursue taxpayers whose U.S. tax bills are more than two years overdue. Advocates for consumers worry that this major policy change will open the floodgates for new twists on old scams, with criminals likely to pose as debt collectors and target people who don’t actually owe money, or to extract for themselves payments from taxpayers who do.

Stephen H. Levins, executive director of the Office of Consumer Protection within Hawaii’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, urges residents to be vigilant to avoid being victimized.

“In the past we could say that if you get a call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, just hang up the phone because they don’t collect money that way,” he said. “Now it’s going to be a bit more confusing, but I think as a general proposition I would suggest that people still not interact with a caller who claims they are from the IRS or working for the IRS. The safer thing to do is to contact the IRS directly to ensure that the call is legitimate.”

Levins said his office gets “scores of calls all the time” from Hawaii residents bedeviled by IRS agent impersonators, a pervasive multinational scam. The new collection policy “creates another opportunity for these scammers to take advantage of people here,” he said.

His office shared details from the IRS and the Federal Trade Commission about the new collection methods, which began this month, in hopes that the information will help people avoid being ripped off. Levins noted that the IRS didn’t make the change on its own, but because of a 2015 congressional mandate.

>> The new collection program applies only to taxpayers with U.S. federal tax debts at least 2 years old who already have been contacted by the IRS but failed to pay their bill.

>> Any taxpayer whose debt is transferred to a private debt-collection company will receive two letters via U.S. mail before receiving any phone calls from the private debt collector. The first letter will be from the IRS and will state which one of four contracted companies has been assigned to collect the debt. The companies are CBE Group, ConServe, Performant and Pioneer Credit Recovery. The second will come from the company assigned to the account. Both letters will include the amount owed, the name of the assigned company and the taxpayer’s unique authentication number.

>> The private debt collectors will never tell taxpayers to pay them directly. They’ll say to pay the IRS, either electronically, at IRS.gov/payments, or with a check made out to the U.S. Treasury and mailed to the IRS.

>> Anyone who calls demanding immediate payment via a credit, debit or gift card is not working on behalf of the IRS. Scammers also demand payment by electronic check or wire transfer. Don’t fall for it.

>> The IRS’ debt collectors won’t use robocalls or prerecorded messages. They will make live calls once affected taxpayers have been notified by mail. They’ll cite the unique authentication number stated in the taxpayer’s letters.

>> Taxpayers who know they owe money and receive a collection call can ask to be mailed a validation notice that confirms, in writing, how much they owe.

Taxpayers who know they don’t owe taxes should remain confident hanging up the phone on anyone who claims to be calling from the IRS and demanding immediate payment. And, as Levins said, even those who have bills past due would be wise to contact the IRS directly when they get a collection call, to confirm the call is legitimate and to ensure payments go directly to the IRS.

Read more about the new tax debt collection process at 808ne.ws/irsbaddebt.

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