March 05,2009

Grassley: Geithner Cancellation of Private Debt Collection Program Leaves Tax Debt Uncollected in Perpetuity

M E M O R A N D U M

TO: Reporters and Editors
RE: Private Debt Collection
DA: Thursday, March 5, 2009

Early this evening, Senator Chuck Grassley had a conversation with Secretary of
the Treasury Timothy Geithner about the private debt collection program administered at
the IRS. Geithner informed Grassley that he would be eliminating the private debt
collection program. Grassley made the following comment.

“The administration has decided that after spending nearly a trillion dollars in the
stimulus bill to keep people working across the country, they are going to cut a program
that provides jobs to hundreds of people during the middle of a recession, including 60 in
Iowa. It’s hard to believe that after worrying so much about keeping people employed,
the administration has chosen this route. I told the Secretary that they could hire all the
people they wanted for the NTEU, but the IRS was never going to get the money that was
owed to the federal treasury because IRS policy is to not go after debts under a certain
amount.”

Grassley argues that the collection program should be given a chance to work and
considered on its merits, not out of union-driven political pressure. His earlier materials
can be found in the printer-friendly version of this news release.