31 U.S.C. § 3720 — Collection of payments

Page 321 TITLE 31—MONEY AND FINANCE § 3720 amounts owed the agency are due to be re- paid; (B) the total amount of receivables and number of claims at least 30 days past due; (C) the total amount written off as actu- ally uncollectible and the total amount al- lowed for uncollectible loans and accounts receivable; (D) the rate of interest charged for overdue debts and the amount of interest charged and collected on debts; (E) the total number of claims and the total amount collected; and (F) the number and total amount of claims referred to the Attorney General for settle- ment and the number and total amount of claims the Attorney General settles; (2) the information described in clause (1) of this subsection for each program or activity the head of the agency carries out; and (3) other information the Secretary con- siders necessary to decide whether the head of the agency is acting aggressively to collect the claims of the agency. (b) The Secretary shall analyze the reports submitted under subsection (a) of this section and shall report annually to Congress on the management of debt collection activities by the head of each agency, including the information provided the Secretary under subsection (a). (Added Pub. L. 97–452, § 1(16)(A), Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2473; amended Pub. L. 104–134, title III, § 31001(aa)(3), Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321–380.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 3719(a) ..... 31 App.:955(a). Oct. 25, 1982, Pub. L. 97–365, § 12, 96 Stat. 1756. 3719(b) ..... 31 App.:955(b). In subsection (a), before clause (1), the words ‘‘of the United States’’ are omitted as surplus. The words ‘‘the head of’’ are added for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the United States Code. In clause (1)(C), the words ‘‘uncollectible loans and ac- counts receivable’’ are added for clarity. In clause (1)(F), the words ‘‘Attorney General’’ are substituted for ‘‘Department of Justice’’ for consistency in the re- vised title and with other titles of the Code, including 28:503, 509. In subsection (b), the word ‘‘submitted’’ is sub- stituted for ‘‘received by each agency’’ for clarity. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1996—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–134, § 31001(aa)(3)(A)(i), amended first sentence generally. Prior to amendment, first sentence read as follows: ‘‘In consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Comptroller General, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall prescribe regulations requiring the head of each agency with outstanding debts to prepare and sub- mit to the Director and the Secretary at least once each year a report summarizing the status of loans and accounts receivable managed by the head of the agen- cy.’’ Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 104–134, § 31001(aa)(3)(A)(ii), sub- stituted ‘‘Secretary’’ for ‘‘Director’’. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–134, § 31001(aa)(3)(B), which di- rected that subsec. (b) be amended by substituting ‘‘Secretary’’ for ‘‘Director’’, was executed by making the substitution to both places where ‘‘Director’’ ap- peared. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries TERMINATION OF REPORTING REQUIREMENTS For termination, effective May 15, 2000, of provisions of law requiring submittal to Congress of any annual, semiannual, or other regular periodic report listed in House Document No. 103–7 (in which the reporting re- quirement under subsec. (b) of this section is listed on page 42), see section 3003 of Pub. L. 104–66, as amended, and section 1(a)(4) [div. A, § 1402(1)] of Pub. L. 106–554, set out as notes under section 1113 of this title. CONSOLIDATION OF REPORTS Pub. L. 104–134, title III, § 31001(aa)(4), Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321–380, provided that: ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Treasury may consolidate reports concerning debt collection otherwise required to be submitted by the Secretary into one annual report.’’ § 3720. Collection of payments (a) Each head of an executive agency (other than an agency subject to section 9 of the Act of May 18, 1933 (48 Stat. 63, chapter 32; 16 U.S.C. 831h)) shall, under such regulations as the Sec- retary of the Treasury shall prescribe, provide for the timely deposit of money by officials and agents of such agency in accordance with sec- tion 3302, and for the collection and timely de- posit of sums owed to such agency by the use of such procedures as withdrawals and deposits by electronic transfer of funds, automatic with- drawals from accounts at financial institutions, and a system under which financial institutions receive and deposit, on behalf of the executive agency, payments transmitted to post office lockboxes. The Secretary is authorized to col- lect from any agency not complying with the re- quirements imposed pursuant to the preceding sentence a charge in an amount the Secretary determines to be the cost to the general fund caused by such noncompliance. (b) The head of an executive agency shall pay to the Secretary of the Treasury charges im- posed pursuant to subsection (a). Payments shall be made out of amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to carry out the pro- gram to which the collections relate. The amounts of the charges paid under this sub- section shall be deposited in the Cash Manage- ment Improvements Fund established by sub- section (c). (c) There is established in the Treasury of the United States a revolving fund to be known as the ‘‘Cash Management Improvements Fund’’. Sums in the fund shall be available without fis- cal year limitation for the payment of expenses incurred in developing the methods of collection and deposit described in subsection (a) of this section and the expenses incurred in carrying out collections and deposits using such methods, including the costs of personal services and the costs of the lease or purchase of equipment and operating facilities. (Added Pub. L. 98–369, div. B, title VI, § 2652(a)(1), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 1152.) Page 322 TITLE 31—MONEY AND FINANCE § 3720A 1 So in original. Subsec. (h) contains two pars. designated (1) and (2). 2 So in original. Probably should not be hyphenated. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries REGULATIONS Pub. L. 98–369, div. B, title VI, § 2652(a)(3), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 1152, provided that: ‘‘The Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe regulations, including regula- tions under section 3720 of title 31, United States Code, designed to achieve by October 1, 1986, full implementa- tion of the purposes of this subsection.’’ § 3720A. Reduction of tax refund by amount of debt (a) Any Federal agency that is owed by a per- son a past-due, legally enforceable debt (includ- ing debt administered by a third party acting as an agent for the Federal Government) shall, and any agency subject to section 9 of the Act of May 18, 1933 (16 U.S.C. 831h), owed such a debt may, in accordance with regulations issued pur- suant to subsections (b) and (d), notify the Sec- retary of the Treasury at least once each year of the amount of such debt. (b) No Federal agency may take action pursu- ant to subsection (a) with respect to any debt until such agency— (1) notifies the person incurring such debt that such agency proposes to take action pur- suant to such paragraph with respect to such debt; (2) gives such person at least 60 days to present evidence that all or part of such debt is not past-due or not legally enforceable; (3) considers any evidence presented by such person and determines that an amount of such debt is past due and legally enforceable; (4) satisfies such other conditions as the Sec- retary may prescribe to ensure that the deter- mination made under paragraph (3) with re- spect to such debt is valid and that the agency has made reasonable efforts (determined on a government-wide basis) to obtain payment of such debt; and (5) certifies that reasonable efforts have been made by the agency (pursuant to regula- tions) to obtain payment of such debt. (c) Upon receiving notice from any Federal agency that a named person owes to such agency a past-due legally enforceable debt, the Sec- retary of the Treasury shall determine whether any amounts, as refunds of Federal taxes paid, are payable to such person. If the Secretary of the Treasury finds that any such amount is pay- able, he shall reduce such refunds by an amount equal to the amount of such debt, pay the amount of such reduction to such agency, and notify such agency of the individual’s home ad- dress. (d) The Secretary of the Treasury shall issue regulations prescribing the time or times at which agencies must submit notices of past-due legally enforceable debts, the manner in which such notices must be submitted, and the nec- essary information that must be contained in or accompany the notices. The regulations shall specify the minimum amount of debt to which the reduction procedure established by sub- section (c) may be applied and the fee that an agency must pay to reimburse the Secretary of the Treasury for the full cost of applying such procedure. Any fee paid to the Secretary pursu- ant to the preceding sentence may be used to re- imburse appropriations which bore all or part of the cost of applying such procedure. (e) Any Federal agency receiving notice from the Secretary of the Treasury that an erroneous payment has been made to such agency under subsection (c) shall pay promptly to the Sec- retary, in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, an amount equal to the amount of such erroneous payment (with- out regard to whether any other amounts pay- able to such agency under such subsection have been paid to such agency). (f)(1) Subsection (a) shall apply with respect to an OASDI overpayment made to any individual only if such individual is not currently entitled to monthly insurance benefits under title II of the Social Security Act. (2)(A) The requirements of subsection (b) shall not be treated as met in the case of the recovery of an OASDI overpayment from any individual under this section unless the notification under subsection (b)(1) describes the conditions under which the Commissioner of Social Security is required to waive recovery of an overpayment, as provided under section 204(b) of the Social Se- curity Act. (B) In any case in which an individual files for a waiver under section 204(b) of the Social Secu- rity Act within the 60-day period referred to in subsection (b)(2), the Commissioner of Social Se- curity shall not certify to the Secretary of the Treasury that the debt is valid under subsection (b)(4) before rendering a decision on the waiver request under such section 204(b). In lieu of pay- ment, pursuant to subsection (c), to the Com- missioner of Social Security of the amount of any reduction under this subsection based on an OASDI overpayment, the Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit such amount in the Fed- eral Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund or the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, whichever is certified to the Secretary of the Treasury as appropriate by the Commis- sioner of Social Security. (g) In the case of refunds of business associa- tions, this section shall apply only to refunds payable on or after January 1, 1995. In the case of refunds of individuals who owe debts to Fed- eral agencies that have not participated in the Federal tax refund offset program prior to the date of enactment of this subsection, this sec- tion shall apply only to refunds payable on or after January 1, 1994. (h)(1) 1 The disbursing official of the Depart- ment of the Treasury— (1) 1 shall notify a taxpayer in writing of— (A) the occurrence of an offset to satisfy a past-due legally enforceable nontax debt; (B) the identity of the creditor agency re- questing the offset; and (C) a contact point within the creditor agency that will handle concerns regarding the offset; (2) 1 shall notify the Internal Revenue Serv- ice on a weekly basis of— (A) the occurrence of an offset to satisfy a past-due legally enforceable non-tax 2 debt;