Why Is Performant Recovery Calling You?

Performant Recovery is not one of the IRS’s current private debt collection agencies. Its contract ended in September 2021. If someone calls about a federal tax debt using that name, the call is not happening under an IRS assignment. It may concern a different kind of debt, or it may not be from Performant Recovery at all. Verify before you pay or say anything.

Key Takeaways

• The IRS recalled roughly 1.26 million accounts when Performant Recovery’s contract lapsed in 2021. Yours could have been one of them.
• If Performant Recovery calls about a federal tax debt now, don’t take the call at face value. Ask for the debt in writing before you respond.
• Under a CFPB consent order, Performant Recovery is barred from servicing or collecting student loan debt.
• Real IRS debt goes to one of three current agencies: CBE Group, ConServe, or Coast Professional. Not Performant Recovery.
• If you suspect an IRS impersonation call, report it to TIGTA at 800-366-4484.

Is Performant Recovery Still an IRS Collection Agency?

No. Performant Recovery’s IRS private debt collection contract ended on September 22, 2021, and the IRS didn’t renew it. The IRS’s own current list of contracted agencies names three companies instead: CBE Group, ConServe, and Coast Professional. Performant Recovery isn’t one of them.

When the contract lapsed, the IRS recalled roughly 1.26 million accounts from Performant Recovery and Pioneer Credit Recovery, the other agency that lost its contract the same day. Both companies sent letters telling affected taxpayers, in their own words, that “we will no longer be collecting this debt on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service,” according to the Taxpayer Advocate Service’s own account of the 2021 transition.

If Performant Recovery is contacting you today, it can’t be for federal tax collection duties. It hasn’t held that authority in years, and nothing in its 2021 exit letter suggested that would change.

To be clear, Performant Recovery is a real, operating company, not a name invented for a scam. It just isn’t an IRS collection agency anymore. That distinction matters: a real company can still be the wrong caller for this specific claim.

What Kind of Debt Might Performant Recovery Actually Be Calling About?

Historically, Performant Recovery’s main business outside the IRS contract was collecting defaulted federal student loans, specifically FFELP loans. That channel is largely closed too. In December 2024, the CFPB ordered Performant Recovery to stop all student loan servicing and collection activity and pay a $700,000 penalty. The Bureau found that the company had delayed borrowers’ loan rehabilitation applications past a 65-day deadline, which allowed collection costs to be added to their loans.

That order remains the governing restriction on that side of its business. It leaves a narrow set of possibilities for a call today: an older, unrelated private debt still on its books, or someone using the Performant Recovery name who has nothing to do with the company.

Performant Recovery does hold a BBB rating of A-, but the business isn’t BBB accredited, and the rating notes a failure to respond to three complaints filed against it. That’s not proof of anything on its own. But it’s one more reason to verify independently before you respond.

How Do You Verify a Call From Performant Recovery?

Don’t take the caller’s word for anything, including who they are.

• Ask for the name of the debt, the original creditor, and the amount, in writing.
• Get a callback number, then verify it independently instead of calling the number they gave you.
• Don’t confirm your Social Security number, date of birth, or bank details on a call you didn’t initiate.
• Ask which notice you received if they claim it’s IRS-related, then check your own mail.

The IRS always contacts you by mail before a private collector calls. Precision Tax Relief can pull your official IRS transcripts and tell you, definitively, whether you have any open tax debt. Contact Us if you want a straight answer before you deal with anyone claiming to collect on it.

How Do You Report an IRS Impersonation Call?

If someone calls claiming IRS authority they don’t have, that’s what TIGTA exists for.

Report it to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at 800-366-4484. TIGTA investigates fraud, waste, and abuse connected to IRS programs, including impersonation scams. Have the caller’s phone number, what they said, and any callback number they gave you ready when you report it.

This applies whether the caller used Performant Recovery’s actual name or borrowed it. Scammers frequently invoke real company names, including agencies that no longer hold IRS contracts, because the names still sound official to someone who doesn’t know the contract history.

How Do You Protect Yourself From Tax Collection Scams?

Watch for the same signs regardless of which agency name a caller uses:

• Demands for immediate payment by gift card, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency.
• Threats of arrest, deportation, or asset seizure on the spot.
• Refusal to send anything in writing or provide a way to verify them independently.
• Pressure to act before you can check with a tax professional.

Our guide on how to spot tax debt scams covers more red flags in detail. When in doubt, hang up and verify through irs.gov directly.

How Can Precision Tax Relief Help?

If you do have real, current tax debt, it’s worth knowing where you stand before you respond to anyone. That’s true no matter who called about it.

• Pull your transcripts: We check IRS records directly to confirm what you owe, if anything, and to whom.
• Sort out old vs. current debt: A debt that’s genuinely old may already be past its collection window. We check your CSED.
• Set up a real resolution: If the debt is current and real, we help you pursue an IRS payment plan or another program that fits your numbers.

Precision Tax Relief offers a free consultation with one of our Enrolled Agents (EAs), federally licensed to represent taxpayers before the IRS. Contact Us to find out where you stand.

This article explains general procedure around IRS private debt collection and collection scam verification. It is not individualized tax advice, and specific circumstances vary. Talk to a licensed professional about your own situation.