Comparing your collection efforts to that of your peers is tough. Companies can be reluctant to share specifics and may even present misleading information. So, when information about collection performance is publicized — audited information signed off on by the federal government — it’s worth publicizing. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has released its annual assessment of the collection efforts of the four private collection agencies that have contracts with the Internal Revenue Service to collect on unpaid income tax debts owed to the federal government.
A copy of the report can be accessed by clicking here.
The report breaks down collection performance, right-party contact rates, payment arrangements, and broken promises to pay, as well as details about how the four companies are attempting to get in touch with individuals and how many calls it takes until the right-party contact is reached.
The report focuses only on four agencies and pertains to one specific type of debt, but still offers glimpses into how those agencies are working those accounts. For example, CBE Group made 21 number of outbound calls per taxpayer account, compared to four for Pioneer Credit during the 2021 Fiscal Year. It took CBE 34 calls, on average, to reach a right-party contact, compared with 23 at Pioneer, 15 at Performant, and 13 at ConServe. Overall, the four agencies collected 2.78% of the total amount of unpaid tax debt that was assigned to them, according to the report. CBE collected the most during the first term of the contract, with more than $285 million in payments, followed by ConServe ($274 million), Pioneer ($270 million), and Performant ($262 million).
It should be noted that the IRS awarded new contracts to CBE, ConServe, and Coast Professional in September 2021.
