Horrible Things Can Happen When We Allow Private Companies to Collect Taxes
http://www.alternet.org/economy/horrible-things-can-happen-when-we-allow-private-companies-collect-taxes
John Adams once said that, "Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity and happiness of the people; and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men."
Since the founding of our nation, there have always been strong and clear distinctions between public space and private space, and between things that are done by the government and things that are done by businesses and the private sector.
These distinctions are at the very core of our democracy, and of capitalism in America.
For example, capitalism requires an impartial court system that can enforce contracts. Obviously, this court system can't be run by corporations themselves, and is instead run by the government.
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I helped support a tiny political off-broadway show in New York City some years back. I left the mechanics in the hands of a local guy who took care of the paperwork. We closed it when Obama was elected, as we figured (wrongly!!) that the era of laughable idiots running the Republican Party would soon be over.
A couple of years ago, I got an official-looking letter from New York City saying we had neglected to pay some very obscure tax, and that I was personally liable for $165,000 in back taxes and interest, but I could stop the accumulation of interest if I were to make an immediate payment of $40,000.
This sounded weird enough that I got the former manager to go to the NY State Government and seek out the office responsible for this. It turns out there was some tax we should have paid (no one knew) for about $2500, and since we were "in the South somewhere," they gave it to a collection agency.
One of my cousins, who is on the tax court in New York City, told me she had a run-in with this very same agency. They started harassing her husband for some huge sum of money due a case of mistaken identity (right name, wrong guy), and didn't let up until she sent the police to their offices.
The former manager of our show managed to find out what the problem was, and I had to send them $2483 (or whatever it was), and they were happy. The collection agency went away. But IF I had listened to their spiel, and really forked over $40,000, I would have had NO recourse to recover it (!!!!!).
Giving tax collection to a for-profit agency is like giving it to the mafia. (maybe without the "like"
Don't do it!!