IRS Letter: Clue That a Collector Will Call Shortly

Curious about how the IRS will notify those about to be turned over to a collection agency? They’ll be notified by letter, according to Deborah Wolf, project director for filing and payment compliance modernization at the IRS.

The language is clear and concise: “It tells the taxpayer the name of the company that they are being assigned to, along with contact information for that company as well as a special 800 number that is being used for that program only,” Wolf told Gannett News Service. “We also include a special tri-fold publication that goes into more details on the rights of the taxpayer.”

Consumers will receive a second letter, this time from the collection agency itself, five days later. After that, back-tax-owing recipients have 10 days to opt out — either by paying the debt or sending a letter asking the IRS to call off the collection agency.

So far, only 130 out of the initial 26,000 cases assigned to collection agencies have sent an opt-out letter.