Tax Administration: Millions of Dollars Could Be Collected If IRS Levied More Federal Payments
Abstract:
About 70,400 individuals and businesses that received about $1.9 billion in federal payments collectively from USPS, DOD, and CMS owed over $1billion in federal taxes as of June 30, 2000. We estimate that IRS could recover at least $270 million annually in delinquent federal taxes if these payments were included in the continuous levy program. However, the amount of delinquent taxes recovered annually through this program could be somewhat lower because some taxpayers might make other arrangements with IRS to resolve their tax debts. We further estimate that an additional $16 million could be recovered annually if IRS were to provide FMS with the different names vendors have used for tax purposes, such as prior business names, so that FMS could include them in the continuous levy program.