Title 26 — Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-73not60
§6306 Qualified Tax Collection Contracts
Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle F— Procedure and Administration › Chapter 64— COLLECTION › Subchapter A— General Provisions › § 6306
Summary
The Secretary may hire private companies to collect certain unpaid federal taxes. These contracts let private people find and contact taxpayers, ask for full payment, offer installment plans up to 7 years if needed, and get financial information. Contractors must follow the same rules that IRS employees follow when doing the same work. Subcontractors can only do limited tasks. They cannot contact taxpayers, do quality checks, or write collection notices unless the Secretary approves other tasks. The Secretary must use such contracts to try to collect “inactive” tax debts. A debt is “inactive” if it was taken out of active work because of lack of resources or an inability to find the taxpayer, if more than 2 years passed since assessment without assignment to an IRS worker, or if 365 days passed with no contact after assignment. Some debts cannot be sent to contractors, including those with offers-in-compromise, innocent spouse cases, certain protected taxpayers (for example, deceased, under 18, in a combat zone, identity-theft victims, mostly on disability or very low income), or debts under audit, appeal, litigation, criminal investigation, or levy. The Secretary may keep up to 25 percent of amounts collected to pay contractors and up to 25 percent to fund a special compliance account. The United States is not liable for contractor actions. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies unless overridden by specific tax rules. The Secretary must follow rules in 31 U.S.C. 3711(g) when using private collectors and debt centers. Taxpayers affected by a declared disaster can ask contractors to pause collection and have the debt returned to IRS staff. Within 90 days after each fiscal year, the Secretary must report to Congress on amounts assigned, collected, costs, fees, safeguards, and, every two years, independent contractor evaluations and comparisons to IRS methods. Damages and taxpayer assistance orders apply under sections 7433A and 7811(g).
Full Legal Text
Title 26, §6306
Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Nothing in any provision of law shall be construed to prevent the Secretary from entering into a qualified tax collection contract.
(b)For 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
(C)to obtain financial information specified by the Secretary with respect to such taxpayer,
(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
(C)composing debt collection notices, and
(4)permits subcontractors to perform other services only with the approval of the Secretary.
(c)(1)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall enter into one or more qualified tax collection contracts for the collection of all outstanding inactive tax receivables.
(2)For purposes of this section—
(A)The 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)The term “tax receivable” means any outstanding assessment which the Internal Revenue Service includes in potentially collectible inventory.
(d)A 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,
(C)in a designated combat zone,
(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)The 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.
(f)The United States shall not be liable for any act or omission of any person performing services under a qualified tax collection contract.
(g)The provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.) shall apply to any qualified tax collection contract, except to the extent superseded by section 6304, section 7602(c), or by any other provision of this title.
(h)In contracting for the services of any person under this section, the Secretary shall utilize private collection contractors and debt collection centers on the schedule required under section 3711(g) of title 31, United States Code, including the technology and communications infrastructure established therein, to the extent such private collection contractors and debt collection centers are appropriate to carry out the purposes of this section.
(i)The 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)Not 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)(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).
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
The Social Security Act, referred to in subsec. (d)(3)(E), is act Aug. 14, 1935, ch. 531, 49 Stat. 620. Title XVI of the Act is classified generally to subchapter XVI (§ 1381 et seq.) of chapter 7 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. section 223 and 1616 of the Act are classified to section 423 and 1382e, respectively, of Title 42. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 1305 of Title 42 and Tables. section 212 of Public Law 93–66, referred to in subsec. (d)(3)(E), is set out as a note under section 1382 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, referred to in subsec. (e), is title VIII of Pub. L. 90–321, as added by Pub. L. 95–109, Sept. 20, 1977, 91 Stat. 874, which is classified generally to subchapter V (§ 1692 et seq.) of chapter 41 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see
Short Title
note set out under section 1601 of Title 15 and Tables.
Amendments
2019—Subsec. (b)(1)(B). Pub. L. 116–25, § 1205(c), substituted “7 years” for “5 years”. Subsec. (c)(2)(A)(ii). Pub. L. 116–25, § 1205(b), substituted “more than 2 years has passed since assessment” for “more than ⅓ of the period of the applicable statute of limitation has lapsed”. Subsec. (d)(3)(E), (F). Pub. L. 116–25, § 1205(a), added subpars. (E) and (F). 2018—Subsec. (e)(2). Pub. L. 115–141, § 401(a)(351), made technical amendment to directory language of Pub. L. 114–94, § 32103(a). See 2015 Amendment note below. 2015—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 114–94, § 32102(a), added subsec. (c). Former subsec. (c) redesignated (e). Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 114–94, § 32102(b), added subsec. (d). Former subsec. (d) redesignated (f). Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 114–94, § 32102(a), (b), successively redesignated subsec. (c) as (d) and then as (e). Former subsec. (e) redesignated (g). Subsec. (e)(2). Pub. L. 114–94, § 32103(a), as amended by Pub. L. 115–141, § 401(a)(351), substituted “to fund the special compliance personnel program account under section 6307” for “for collection
Enforcement
activities of the Internal Revenue Service”. Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 114–94, § 32102(a), (b), successively redesignated subsec. (d) as (e) and then as (f). Former subsec. (f) redesignated (k). Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 114–94, § 32102(a), (b), successively redesignated subsec. (e) as (f) and then as (g). Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 114–94, § 32102(c), added subsec. (h). Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 114–94, § 32102(e), added subsec. (i). Subsec. (j). Pub. L. 114–94, § 32102(f)(1), added subsec. (j). Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 114–94, § 32102(a), (b), (c), (e), (f)(1), successively redesignated subsec. (f) as (g), (h), (i), (j), and then (k).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2019 Amendment Pub. L. 116–25, title I, § 1205(e), July 1, 2019, 133 Stat. 989, provided that: “(1) In general.—Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the
Amendments
made by this section [amending this section and section 6307 of this title] shall apply to tax receivables identified by the Secretary (or the Secretary’s delegate) after
December 31, 2020. “(2) Maximum length of installment agreements.—The amendment made by subsection (c) [amending this section] shall apply to contracts entered into after the date of the enactment of this Act [
July 1, 2019]. “(3) Use of special compliance personnel program account.—The amendment made by subsection (d) [amending section 6307 of this title] shall apply to amounts expended from the special compliance personnel program account after the date of the enactment of this Act.”
Effective Date
of 2015 Amendment Pub. L. 114–94, div. C, title XXXII, § 32102(g)(1), (2), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1736, provided that: “(1) In general.—The
Amendments
made by subsections (a) and (b) [amending this section] shall apply to tax receivables identified by the Secretary [probably means Secretary of the Treasury] after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 4, 2015]. “(2) Contracting priority.—The Secretary shall begin entering into contracts and agreements as described in the amendment made by subsection (c) [amending this section] within 3 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.” Pub. L. 114–94, div. C, title XXXII, § 32102(g)(4), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1736, provided that: “The
Amendments
made by subsections (e) and (f) [amending this section and repealing provisions formerly set out as a note under this section] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 4, 2015].” Pub. L. 114–94, div. C, title XXXII, § 32103(d), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1738, provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply to amounts collected and retained by the Secretary [probably means Secretary of the Treasury] after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 4, 2015].”
Effective Date
Pub. L. 108–357, title VIII, § 881(f), Oct. 22, 2004, 118 Stat. 1627, provided that: “The
Amendments
made to [by] this section [enacting this section and section 7433A of this title, amending section 7809 and 7811 of this title, and amending provisions set out as a note under section 7804 of this title] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 22, 2004].” Biennial Report Pub. L. 108–357, title VIII, § 881(e), Oct. 22, 2004, 118 Stat. 1627, directed the Secretary of the Treasury to biennially submit (beginning in 2005) to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives a report with respect to qualified tax collection contracts under this section, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 114–94, div. C, title XXXII, § 32102(f)(2), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1736.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
26 U.S.C. § 6306
Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60