Bills to repeal the Internal Revenue Services' authority to use private collection agencies to collect delinquent taxes and crack down on identify theft involving Social Security numbers were approved Wednesday by the House Ways and Means Committee.
The more controversial bill was the private tax collection measure, which passed 23-18 over Republican objections.
Democrats argued the bill was needed to get private collection agencies out of the business of dunning taxpayers, arguing that there have been many documented abuses by the private agencies, such as calling taxpayers more than 100 times in pursuit of a debt. They also said the IRS, given the proper resources, could do a better job.
