Coast Professional Inc. and IRS Debt: Verify, Dispute, Resolve

If Coast Professional Inc. has contacted you about an IRS debt, the call is probably legitimate. Coast Professional Inc. is one of three private collection agencies the IRS uses to pursue older, inactive tax balances under its Private Debt Collection program, and your account was transferred to the company because the IRS wasn’t actively working it. CPI’s job is narrow: talk to you, confirm what you owe, and help you set up payment. The debt itself still belongs to the federal government, every dollar you pay goes to the U.S. Treasury, and penalties and interest keep accruing until the balance is cleared.¹

Confirm the Contact Is Real Before You Do Anything Else

Scammers impersonate the IRS and its contractors constantly, so verify first and talk second. The IRS always mails a written notice before any private collector reaches out. Individual taxpayers get Notice CP40; businesses get Notice CP140. That notice names the assigned agency, provides its contact information, and includes a unique Taxpayer Authentication Number.² CPI then mails its own introductory letter containing the same number. Only after both letters have gone out will a phone call happen.³

When CPI calls, the representative will ask you to verify your name and address, then exchange portions of the authentication number with you. If the caller skips that exchange, can’t produce the number, or you never received either letter, hang up.

Treat the following as automatic signs of a scam:

Demands for payment by gift card, prepaid debit card, cryptocurrency, or wire transfer. Legitimate payments go to the U.S. Treasury only.⁴
Threats of immediate arrest, deportation, or license revocation. Neither the IRS nor its contractors operate that way.
Any request that you make the check out to Coast Professional Inc. or an individual rather than to the United States Treasury.⁵

If anything feels wrong, hang up and call the IRS directly through the number on IRS.gov, or sign in to your IRS online account to confirm your balance and whether your account has in fact been assigned to a collector.

What CPI Can Do and What It Can’t

CPI can contact you, discuss your balance, and offer an installment arrangement that pays the debt in full within seven years or before the collection statute expires, whichever is shorter.¹ That’s roughly the full extent of its authority.

What CPI cannot do matters more. Private collection agencies are barred from enforcement. They cannot file a federal tax lien, levy your bank account or wages, or seize property. Only the IRS has that power.⁶ CPI also cannot accept or reject an Offer in Compromise, place your account in Currently Not Collectible status, or change the amount you owe. Any of those outcomes requires the case to go back to the IRS.

When Your Account Shouldn’t Have Been Assigned at All

The IRS excludes certain taxpayers from private collection. Your account should not be with CPI if you fall into any of these categories:

Receiving Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance
Earning below 200 percent of the federal poverty level
Under 18, deceased, or in a designated combat zone
A victim of tax-related identity theft
Currently under audit, in litigation, under criminal investigation, or subject to an active levy
Pursuing or covered by a pending Offer in Compromise, installment agreement, or appeal
Classified as an innocent spouse case
In a presidentially declared disaster area and requesting collection relief

If one of these applies to you but CPI called anyway, contact the IRS directly. The account should be pulled back.⁷

Your Rights When CPI Contacts You

Two sets of rules bind CPI. Federal law requires private tax collection contractors to follow the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.¹ The contract with the IRS also requires CPI employees to follow the same conduct standards as IRS employees, including the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.⁸

In practice, CPI cannot call you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in your local time zone, cannot threaten violence or use abusive language, and cannot misrepresent what you owe or claim to be a government employee.⁹

Telling CPI to Stop Contacting You

Send CPI a written request to stop communication. Under the FDCPA, once the collector receives such a request, it must stop contacting you except to confirm it is ending its efforts or to notify you of a specific action it or the IRS plans to take.¹⁰ When CPI gets your written cease-communication request, it is required to return your account to the IRS for direct handling.⁶

Disputing What You Owe

If you believe the balance is wrong or that you don’t owe the tax at all, tell CPI you dispute it. The agency has no authority to resolve disputes and must forward the matter to the IRS for review.

How to Resolve the Balance

Once you’ve confirmed the debt is real, pick the path that fits your situation.

Pay in Full or Set Up an Installment Plan Through CPI

Full payment is the cleanest resolution. Payments go to the U.S. Treasury by electronic funds transfer, check, or money order. CPI can explain the accepted methods, but the money is always payable to the Treasury.

If you can’t pay at once, CPI can arrange an installment plan that clears the balance within seven years or before the collection statute runs out, whichever comes first.¹ The IRS generally has 10 years from the date it assessed the tax to collect, a deadline called the Collection Statute Expiration Date. After it passes, the IRS can no longer pursue the balance through levies or lawsuits.¹¹ Because accounts assigned to CPI are usually older, your remaining collection window may be shorter than seven years, and that affects the payment terms CPI can offer.

Ask for Your Case to Go Back to the IRS

Some situations outrun what CPI can handle. If you need an Offer in Compromise, want Currently Not Collectible status, cannot afford payments under a seven-year schedule, or believe the tax amount itself is wrong, submit a written request to CPI asking that your account be returned to the IRS.⁶ CPI has no authority over any of those outcomes.

What Happens If You Ignore the Calls

Silence doesn’t make the debt go away. CPI itself has no enforcement power, but the IRS does, and an account CPI can’t make progress on can be returned to the IRS, which may then pursue liens, levies, or wage garnishment.⁶

Interest and failure-to-pay penalties keep compounding the whole time. A $10,000 balance today is a materially larger one in a few years. The 10-year collection clock does eventually run, but relying on it is a losing bet for most people, and certain actions, including filing an Offer in Compromise or entering a formal installment agreement, can extend that deadline.¹¹

Where to Get Help

The Taxpayer Advocate Service is an independent organization inside the IRS that steps in when the normal process isn’t working. If CPI’s involvement is causing financial hardship, or your case is being mishandled, TAS can intervene. Reach them at 877-777-4778 or through TaxpayerAdvocate.irs.gov.¹²

Low Income Taxpayer Clinics offer free or low-cost representation to taxpayers below a set income threshold who owe less than $50,000. LITCs can represent you before the IRS or in court on collection matters, appeals, and disputes. The IRS LITC page lists clinics by location.¹³

For larger balances, an enrolled agent, CPA, or tax attorney can negotiate directly with the IRS, which is often worth the cost for Offers in Compromise or complex installment agreements. Hourly fees for tax resolution professionals typically run from $120 to $300, with flat-fee arrangements common for specific filings.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 6306 – Qualified Tax Collection Contracts
2
Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP40 Notice
3
Internal Revenue Service. Taxpayers Can Find Answers to Questions About Private Collection Agencies on IRS.gov
4
Internal Revenue Service. Here’s How to Know That Private Collection Agency Calling You Is Legit
5
Internal Revenue Service. Ways to Tell if the IRS Is Reaching Out or if It’s a Scammer
6
Internal Revenue Service. Private Debt Collection FAQs
7
Internal Revenue Service. Private Debt Collection – Accounts Assigned to Private Collection Agencies
8
Internal Revenue Service. Private Debt Collection
9
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. When and How Often Can a Debt Collector Call Me on the Phone
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692c – Communication in Connection With Debt Collection
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6502 – Collection After Assessment
12
Taxpayer Advocate Service. Private Debt Collection (PDC)
13
Internal Revenue Service. Low Income Taxpayer Clinics