In announcing its decision to end the private debt collection program, the IRS said it anticipates hiring over 1,000 new collection personnel in fiscal 2009.
It said the new employees would give the IRS the flexibility to make assignments based on the areas of greatest need rather than filtering which cases can be worked using contractor resources.
"In these challenging economic times, I have asked all IRS employees to go the extra mile to help financially distressed taxpayers," Shulman said. "IRS employees have more options available to them to resolve difficult collection cases."
Shulman also said that the decision was not based on contractor performance.
"I have asked IRS officials to ensure that the ramp down is orderly, and that the IRS perform targeted outreach to any displaced contractor employees that would consider applying for positions at the IRS," Shulman said.
