The Internal Revenue Service has award three new debt collection contracts to private sector collection agencies. These contracts start on September 23, 2021 and if you have an IRS debt you may be contacted by one of these agencies.

The three private debt collection agencies are 1) CBE Group Inc based in Waterloo, Iowa; 2) Coast Professional, Inc., based in Albion New York and 3) ConServe based in Fariport, New York.

Before a tax debt is turned over to one of these collection agencies, a delinquent taxpayer will receive a letter from the IRS informing them that their account was turned over to one of these collection agencies. After the IRS letter is sent, the private collection agency will send out their own notice to the taxpayer.

The private collection agencies must follow the provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and they are NOT authorized to take enforcement actions against the taxpayers.

The private collection agencies will discuss with the taxpayers the options for payment such as an installment agreement. However, any payments should always go to the IRS directly and the private collection agencies are not permitted to accept any payments from the taxpayer.

For more information on private debt collection agencies collecting IRS taxes please see IRS Publication 4518 (What You Can Expect When the IRS Assigns Your Account to a Private Collection Agency)