26 USC 6301 - Collection authority

Collapse to view only § 6301. Collection authority

§ 6301. Collection authority
§ 6302. Mode or time of collection
§ 6303. Notice and demand for tax
§ 6304. Fair tax collection practices
§ 6305. Collection of certain liability
§ 6306. Qualified tax collection contracts
§ 6307. Special compliance personnel program account

§ 6301. Collection authority

The Secretary shall collect the taxes imposed by the internal revenue laws.

(Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 775; Pub. L. 94–455, title XIX, § 1906(b)(13)(A), Oct. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1834.)

§ 6302. Mode or time of collection

(a) Establishment by regulations

(b) Discretionary method

(d) Time for payment of manufacturers’ excise tax on recreational equipment

(e) Time for deposit of taxes on communications services and airline tickets

(1) In general

(2) Special rule for tax due in September

(A) Amounts considered collected

(B) Special rule where September 29 is on Saturday or Sunday

If September 29 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the due date under subparagraph (A) shall be—

(i) in the case of Saturday, the preceding day, and

(ii) in the case of Sunday, the following day.

(f) Time for deposit of certain excise taxes

(1) General rule

(2) Taxes on ozone depleting chemicals

If any person is required under regulations to make deposits of taxes under subchapter D of chapter 38 with respect to semimonthly periods, in lieu of paragraph (1), such person shall make deposits of such taxes for—

(A) the second semimonthly period in August, and

(B) the period beginning on September 1 and ending on September 11,

not later than September 29.

(3) Taxpayers not required to use electronic funds transfer

(4) Special rule where due date on Saturday or Sunday

If, but for this paragraph, the due date under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) would fall on a Saturday or Sunday, such due date shall be deemed to be—

(A) in the case of Saturday, the preceding day, and

(B) in the case of Sunday, the following day.

(g) Deposits of social security taxes and withheld income taxes

(h) Use of electronic fund transfer system for collection of certain taxes

(1) Establishment of system

(A) In general

(B) Exemptions

(2) Definitions

For purposes of this subsection—

(A) Depository tax

(B) Electronic fund transfer

(3) Coordination with other electronic fund transfer requirements

(Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 775; June 29, 1956, ch. 462, title II, § 206(b), 70 Stat. 391; Pub. L. 94–455, title XIX, § 1906(a)(17), (b)(13)(A), Oct. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1825, 1834; Pub. L. 95–147, § 3(a), Oct. 28, 1977, 91 Stat. 1228; Pub. L. 95–600, title I, § 105(e), Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2776; Pub. L. 96–223, title I, § 101(c)(2), Apr. 2, 1980, 94 Stat. 250; Pub. L. 98–369, div. A, title X, § 1015(c), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 1018; Pub. L. 100–418, title I, § 1941(b)(2)(G), Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1323; Pub. L. 100–647, title VI, § 6107(a), Nov. 10, 1988, 102 Stat. 3712; Pub. L. 101–239, title VII, §§ 7502(a), 7507(a), 7632(a), Dec. 19, 1989, 103 Stat. 2362, 2369, 2379; Pub. L. 101–508, title XI, §§ 11217(b)(1), 11334(a), 11801(c)(22)(A), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1388–437, 1388–470, 1388–528; Pub. L. 103–66, title XIII, § 13242(d)(15), Aug. 10, 1993, 107 Stat. 524; Pub. L. 103–182, title V, § 523(a), Dec. 8, 1993, 107 Stat. 2161; Pub. L. 103–465, title VII, § 712(a), (d), Dec. 8, 1994, 108 Stat. 4999, 5001; Pub. L. 104–188, title I, §§ 1702(c)(3), 1704(t)(52), Aug. 20, 1996, 110 Stat. 1869, 1890; Pub. L. 111–226, title II, § 219(b)(2), Aug. 10, 2010, 124 Stat. 2403; Pub. L. 111–237, § 2(a), Aug. 16, 2010, 124 Stat. 2497; Pub. L. 113–295, div. A, title II, § 221(a)(110), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 4053; Pub. L. 115–141, div. U, title IV, § 401(a)(279), Mar. 23, 2018, 132 Stat. 1197.)

§ 6303. Notice and demand for tax

(a) General rule

(b) Assessment prior to last date for payment

(Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 775; Pub. L. 94–455, title XIX, § 1906(b)(13)(A), Oct. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1834.)

§ 6304. Fair tax collection practices

(a) Communication with the taxpayer

Without the prior consent of the taxpayer given directly to the Secretary or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, the Secretary may not communicate with a taxpayer in connection with the collection of any unpaid tax—

(1) at any unusual time or place or a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to the taxpayer;

(2) if the Secretary knows the taxpayer is represented by any person authorized to practice before the Internal Revenue Service with respect to such unpaid tax and has knowledge of, or can readily ascertain, such person’s name and address, unless such person fails to respond within a reasonable period of time to a communication from the Secretary or unless such person consents to direct communication with the taxpayer; or

(3) at the taxpayer’s place of employment if the Secretary knows or has reason to know that the taxpayer’s employer prohibits the taxpayer from receiving such communication.

In the absence of knowledge of circumstances to the contrary, the Secretary shall assume that the convenient time for communicating with a taxpayer is after 8 a.m. and before 9 p.m., local time at the taxpayer’s location.

(b) Prohibition of harassment and abuse

The Secretary may not engage in any conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person in connection with the collection of any unpaid tax. Without limiting the general application of the foregoing, the following conduct is a violation of this subsection:

(1) The use or threat of use of violence or other criminal means to harm the physical person, reputation, or property of any person.

(2) The use of obscene or profane language or language the natural consequence of which is to abuse the hearer or reader.

(3) Causing a telephone to ring or engaging any person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any person at the called number.

(4) Except as provided under rules similar to the rules in section 804 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692b), the placement of telephone calls without meaningful disclosure of the caller’s identity.

(Added Pub. L. 105–206, title III, § 3466(a), July 22, 1998, 112 Stat. 768.)

§ 6305. Collection of certain liability

(a) In general

Upon receiving a certification from the Secretary of Health and Human Services, under section 452(b) of the Social Security Act with respect to any individual, the Secretary shall assess and collect the amount certified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in the same manner, with the same powers, and (except as provided in this section) subject to the same limitations as if such amount were a tax imposed by subtitle C the collection of which would be jeopardized by delay, except that—

(1) no interest or penalties shall be assessed or collected,

(2) for such purposes, paragraphs (4), (6), and (8) of section 6334(a) (relating to property exempt from levy) shall not apply,

(3) there shall be exempt from levy so much of the salary, wages, or other income of an individual as is being withheld therefrom in garnishment pursuant to a judgment entered by a court of competent jurisdiction for the support of his minor children,

(4) in the case of the first assessment against an individual for delinquency under a court or administrative order against such individual for a particular person or persons, the collection shall be stayed for a period of 60 days immediately following notice and demand as described in section 6303, and

(5) no additional fee may be assessed for adjustments to an amount previously certified pursuant to such section 452(b) with respect to the same obligor.

(b) Review of assessments and collections

(Added Pub. L. 93–647, § 101(b)(1), Jan. 4, 1975, 88 Stat. 2358; amended Pub. L. 94–455, title XIX, § 1906(b)(13)(A), Oct. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1834; Pub. L. 97–35, title XXIII, § 2332(g), Aug. 13, 1981, 95 Stat. 862; Pub. L. 104–193, title III, § 361(a), Aug. 22, 1996, 110 Stat. 2242.)

§ 6306. Qualified tax collection contracts

(a) In general

(b) Qualified tax collection contractFor purposes of this section, the term “qualified tax collection contract” means any contract which—

(1) is for the services of any person (other than an officer or employee of the Treasury Department)—

(A) to locate and contact any taxpayer specified by the Secretary,

(B) to request full payment from such taxpayer of an amount of Federal tax specified by the Secretary and, if such request cannot be met by the taxpayer, to offer the taxpayer an installment agreement providing for full payment of such amount during a period not to exceed 7 years, and

(2) prohibits each person providing such services under such contract from committing any act or omission which employees of the Internal Revenue Service are prohibited from committing in the performance of similar services,

(3) prohibits subcontractors from—

(A) having contacts with taxpayers,

(B) providing quality assurance services, and

(4) permits subcontractors to perform other services only with the approval of the Secretary.

(1) In general

(2) Inactive tax receivablesFor purposes of this section—

(A) In generalThe term “inactive tax receivable” means any tax receivable if—

(i) at any time after assessment, the Internal Revenue Service removes such receivable from the active inventory for lack of resources or inability to locate the taxpayer,

(ii) more than 2 years has passed since assessment and such receivable has not been assigned for collection to any employee of the Internal Revenue Service, or

(iii) in the case of a receivable which has been assigned for collection, more than 365 days have passed without interaction with the taxpayer or a third party for purposes of furthering the collection of such receivable.

(B) Tax receivable

(d) Certain tax receivables not eligible for collection under qualified tax collections contractsA tax receivable shall not be eligible for collection pursuant to a qualified tax collection contract if such receivable—

(1) is subject to a pending or active offer-in-compromise or installment agreement,

(2) is classified as an innocent spouse case,

(3) involves a taxpayer identified by the Secretary as being—

(A) deceased,

(B) under the age of 18,

(D) a victim of tax-related identity theft,

(E) a taxpayer substantially all of whose income consists of disability insurance benefits under section 223 of the Social Security Act or supplemental security income benefits under title XVI of the Social Security Act (including supplemental security income benefits of the type described in section 1616 of such Act or section 212 of Public Law 93–66), or

(F) a taxpayer who is an individual with adjusted gross income, as determined for the most recent taxable year for which such information is available, which does not exceed 200 percent of the applicable poverty level (as determined by the Secretary),

(4) is currently under examination, litigation, criminal investigation, or levy, or

(5) is currently subject to a proper exercise of a right of appeal under this title.

(e) FeesThe Secretary may retain and use—

(1) an amount not in excess of 25 percent of the amount collected under any qualified tax collection contract for the costs of services performed under such contract, and

(2) an amount not in excess of 25 percent of such amount collected to fund the special compliance personnel program account under section 6307.

The Secretary shall keep adequate records regarding amounts so retained and used. The amount credited as paid by any taxpayer shall be determined without regard to this subsection.

(f) No Federal liability

(g) Application of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

(h) Contracting priority

(i) Taxpayers in presidentially declared disaster areasThe Secretary may prescribe procedures under which a taxpayer determined to be affected by a Federally declared disaster (as defined by section 165(i)(5)) may request—

(1) relief from immediate collection measures by contractors under this section, and

(2) a return of the inactive tax receivable to the inventory of the Internal Revenue Service to be collected by an employee thereof.

(j) Report to CongressNot later than 90 days after the last day of each fiscal year (beginning with the first such fiscal year ending after the date of the enactment of this subsection), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a report with respect to qualified tax collection contracts under this section which shall include—

(1) annually, with respect to such fiscal year—

(A) the total number and amount of tax receivables provided to each contractor for collection under this section,

(B) the total amounts collected (and amounts of installment agreements entered into under subsection (b)(1)(B)) with respect to each contractor and the collection costs incurred (directly and indirectly) by the Internal Revenue Service with respect to such amounts,

(C) the impact of such contracts on the total number and amount of unpaid assessments, and on the number and amount of assessments collected by Internal Revenue Service personnel after initial contact by a contractor,

(D) the amount of fees retained by the Secretary under subsection (e) and a description of the use of such funds, and

(E) a disclosure safeguard report in a form similar to that required under section 6103(p)(5), and

(2) biannually (beginning with the second report submitted under this subsection)—

(A) an independent evaluation of contractor performance, and

(B) a measurement plan that includes a comparison of the best practices used by the private collectors to the collection techniques used by the Internal Revenue Service and mechanisms to identify and capture information on successful collection techniques used by the contractors that could be adopted by the Internal Revenue Service.

(k) Cross references

(1) For damages for certain unauthorized collection actions by persons performing services under a qualified tax collection contract, see section 7433A.

(2) For application of Taxpayer Assistance Orders to persons performing services under a qualified tax collection contract, see section 7811(g).

(Added Pub. L. 108–357, title VIII, § 881(a)(1), Oct. 22, 2004, 118 Stat. 1625; amended Pub. L. 114–94, div. C, title XXXII, §§ 32102(a)–(c), (e), (f)(1), 32103(a), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1733–1736; Pub. L. 115–141, div. U, title IV, § 401(a)(351), Mar. 23, 2018, 132 Stat. 1201; Pub. L. 116–25, title I, § 1205(a)–(c), July 1, 2019, 133 Stat. 989.)

§ 6307. Special compliance personnel program account

(a) Establishment of a special compliance personnel program account

(b) Restrictions

The program described in subsection (a) shall be subject to the following restrictions:

(1) No funds shall be transferred to such account except as described in subsection (a).

(2) No other funds from any other source shall be expended for special compliance personnel employed under such program.

(3) Notwithstanding any other authority, the Secretary is prohibited from spending funds out of such account for other than program costs.

Not later than March of each year, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall submit a report to the Committees on Finance and Appropriations of the Senate and the Committees on Ways and Means and Appropriations of the House of Representatives consisting of the following:

(1) For the preceding fiscal year, all funds received in the account established under subsection (a), administrative and program costs for the program described in such subsection, the number of special compliance personnel hired and employed under the program, and the amount of revenue actually collected by such personnel.

(2) For the current fiscal year, all actual and estimated funds received or to be received in the account, all actual and estimated administrative and program costs, the number of all actual and estimated special compliance personnel hired and employed under the program, and the actual and estimated revenue actually collected or to be collected by such personnel.

(3) For the following fiscal year, an estimate of all funds to be received in the account, all estimated administrative and program costs, the estimated number of special compliance personnel hired and employed under the program, and the estimated revenue to be collected by such personnel.

(d) Definitions

For purposes of this section—

(1) Special compliance personnel

(2) Program costs

The term “program costs” means—

(A) total salaries (including locality pay and bonuses), benefits, and employment taxes for special compliance personnel employed or trained under the program described in subsection (a),

(B) direct overhead costs, salaries, benefits, and employment taxes relating to support staff, rental payments, office equipment and furniture, travel, data processing services, vehicle costs, utilities, communications, software, technology, postage, printing and reproduction, supplies and materials, lands and structures, insurance claims, and indemnities for special compliance personnel hired and employed under this section, and

(C) reimbursement of the Internal Revenue Service or other government agencies for the cost of administering the qualified tax collection program under section 6306.

For purposes of subparagraph (B), the cost of management and supervision of special compliance personnel shall be taken into account as direct overhead costs to the extent such costs, when included in total program costs under this paragraph, do not represent more than 10 percent of such total costs.

(Added Pub. L. 114–94, div. C, title XXXII, § 32103(b), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1736; amended Pub. L. 116–25, title I, § 1205(d), July 1, 2019, 133 Stat. 989.)