Title 31 — Money and Finance — § 3720. Collection of payments
Summary
These pages of Title 31, Money and Finance, print section 3720, Collection of payments, which requires each head of an executive agency to provide, under regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury, for the timely deposit of money and the collection of sums owed by such means as electronic transfer of funds, automatic withdrawals and post office lockboxes. The Secretary may charge a noncomplying agency the cost to the general fund, and the charges are deposited in the Cash Management Improvements Fund. The pages also print section 3720A, under which a Federal agency owed a past-due, legally enforceable debt may notify the Secretary of the Treasury, who reduces the debtor's tax refund by that amount, after the agency gives the person at least 60 days to present evidence. The first column ends section 3719 on agency debt-collection reports.
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Full text
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 Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large)
Section
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.)
§ 3720A TITLE 31—MONEY AND FINANCE Page 322
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;
1 So in original. Subsec. (h) contains two pars. designated (1)
and (2).
2 So in original. Probably should not be hyphenated.
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