A Really, Really Bad Idea

From to-days Washington Post, an article by Josh Hicks at The Federal Eye:

Should the IRS use private firms to collect taxes?

• BY JOSH HICKS

• April 15 at 2:49 pm

A federal-worker union is fighting bipartisan plans that would require the Treasury Department to contract with private collection agencies to pursue tax debts that the Internal Revenue Service is not addressing.
The National Treasury Employees Union said in a statement on Monday that a similar effort between 2006 and 2009 caused the government to miss out on millions of dollars in potential revenue while paying $102 million to cover administrative and commission costs.
***
A report last year from the nonpartisan Taxpayer Advocate Service said the IRS collected about 62 percent more than corporate firms during the first two years of the previous program. Private collectors brought in $86 million, compared to $139 million for the IRS.

*****

What in the world could go wrong with this idea?  Everything.