Debt Collection and The Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996
In response to a steady increase in the amount of delinquent non-tax
debt owed to the United States, and concern that appropriate actions
were not being taken to collect this delinquent debt, Congress passed
the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA). This law
centralized the governmentwide collection of delinquent debt and gave
Treasury significant new responsibilities in this area. The Financial
Management Service (FMS) is responsible for Treasury's implementation
of the debt collection provisions of the DCIA.