Figure 10-A.10. Collections function organization in headquarters
The responsibilities of headquarters offices are to:
Develop and continually update all programs, policies, guidelines, and procedures (including manuals) for all district/field collections functions;
Design and implement the case selection system;
Develop consolidated strategic and annual collections work plans and similar plans for all district/field offices;
Allocate collections resources (equitably) to district/field offices;
Evaluate the district/field office collection programs from reviews of periodic Management Information System reports and on-site field visits;
Perform on-site reviews of work quality of district/field offices;
Design controls and programs to accurately account for all revenue collections;
Determine training needs for collection staff in all district/field offices; and
Develop employee evaluation standards for performance of all collections staff.
The responsibilities of each section are described below.
In addition, the collections division in many countries includes a cashier section. Such a section should be discontinued as soon as tax collection contracts with commercial banks can be executed, as discussed in Chapter 3 and Chapter 7.
Dep. Director General
Dep. Director General Operations
Office Collections
Section
Field Collections
Section
Special Procedures
Section Chief
Collection Division
Figure 10-A.11. Collections function organization in district/field offices
The principal role of the Chief of the collections division and his or her staff in the district/field offices is simply to perform the collections operations role and execute the annual collections work plans developed by headquarters. All collections staff is also responsible for recommending programs for preventing taxpayers from being delinquent in payment of their taxes.
The Office Collections Section is the first point of contact with those individuals or enterprises that fail to resolve their delinquent payment or delinquent return status in response to notices or letters issued to them. The contact with the taxpayer is by correspondence, telephone, or in person, when the taxpayer visits the office. For efficiency and effectiveness, there are two specialized units – the Processing Unit and the Taxpayer Contact Unit.
The Processing Unit initiates correspondence to taxpayers and third parties in order to collect delinquent tax arrears, secures non-filer and stop-filer returns, or obtains information about taxpayers or their location. The Unit may initiate limited enforcement action to collect tax arrears or secure returns and then determine whether or not the case should be handled by the office contact section or someone in the field collection branch.
The Contact Unit is responsible for contacting taxpayers by telephone or interviewing them in the office, when the taxpayer responds to an appointment letter sent by the Processing Unit.
Personnel of the Contact Unit discuss payment of the tax in full, establish partial payment
Dep. Director General Operations
Office Collections
Section
Field Collections
Section
Special Procedures
Section District Director
Chief Collection Division
Processing Unit
Taxpayer Contact Unit
agreements and take simple enforcement actions, such as mailing a Notice of Levy (attachment) to an individual’s bank account. They secure financial statements, determine ability to pay, or identify the need for the Field Section to take further enforcement action.
The Field Collections Section is the final source of collection actions in the division. The field personnel are called collectors, or collection or revenue Officers and are organized into groups of 10 to 15 individuals, who are supervised by a manager and may have clerical support. The collectors have the responsibility to locate taxpayers and any of their assets, secure delinquent tax returns from stop-filers, identify non-filers, and estimate the tax due and sign the return, if that latter authority is delegated to them. As the title of the section indicates, major duties are carried out not in the office, but in the field, at the taxpayer's residence or business. Collectors may file tax liens, serve levies, and, with appropriate approval, seize and sell movable and immovable assets of the taxpayer.
The collector should be given broad legal and administrative authority, and is generally assigned to a specific geographic area or alphabetic section of taxpayers. He/she is expected to work all cases in the geographic area and assure compliance with all tax laws. As a result of their work in the field, collectors are exceptionally well-placed to identify fraud or cases to recommend in-depth examination to the appropriate criminal investigation or audit divisions.
The Special Procedures Section coordinates all legal and technical information, and it serves as a legal or paralegal advisor to the division and the entire district/field office on collection issues. It generally assumes the quality review function for the collection division and monitors all court cases, including bankruptcies, and files appropriate legal documents to ensure that the interests of the government are protected.
In some countries, the Non-filer/Stop-filer Section is a separate section. In others, the staff of the office and field sections have the respective responsibility to secure delinquent returns. In addition, as discussed above, the collections division in many countries includes the (now obsolete) cashier section.