Private collection agencies are used by the IRS to collect overdue tax debts and the new contracts started September 23, 2021. Taxpayers with unpaid taxes may be contacted by them. The newest contracts have been awarded to CBE Group, Inc., Coast Professional, Inc., and ConServe.
Notifications by IRS & Private Collection Agencies
If the IRS is giving an account to a private collection agency (PCA), the taxpayer will ALWAYS be notified beforehand. The IRS will send a letter out informing that their account is going to a PCA (Notice CP40), along with the name and contact info for that PCA. Also included, will be a copy of Publication 4518, What You Can Expect When the IRS Assigns Your Account to a Private Collection Agency.
Once they’ve been notified by the IRS, the PCA will then send a letter to the taxpayer confirming that their account has been transferred to them.
Both letters will contain your Taxpayer Authentication Number that is used to confirm your identity and that the caller is legitimate.
Moving Forward
Confirm that the caller is from one of the three private collection agencies listed above. You will be asked a series of questions to confirm your identity. Have your Taxpayer Authentication Number handy because it will be used by both you and the PCA for you to confirm each other’s identities.
These private collection agencies do not have the authority to take enforcement actions against taxpayers, like filing a Federal Tax Lien or issuing a levy. Only IRS employees can do this.
The PCAs can set up payment options with taxpayers but under no circumstance, will payment ever go to the PCA. Payment will always go directly to the IRS or the U.S. Treasury. Find out more about payment options at: https://www.irs.gov/payments
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