Section 68 — Assignment of tax debts

(1) The relevant tax authority may assign outstanding tax debts, in whole or in part, to an accredited third party who shall assume responsibility for recovering the tax debts in accordance with the provisions of this Act or regulations issued by the Service.

(2) The relevant tax authority shall only assign outstanding tax debts to a third party where—

(a) all legal steps for tax debt recovery under this Act have been exhausted, including notifications, payment demands and enforcement actions; and

(b) the debt to be recovered is deemed to be of significant value and has been outstanding for a period considered appropriate by the relevant tax authority.

(3) A taxpayer whose debt is assigned to a third party shall be notified in writing, the details of the third party responsible for recovering the tax debt.

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the relevant tax authority may reverse the assignment of the tax debt at any time and resume responsibility for recovery where necessary.

(5) For the purposes of this section—

“third party” includes banks and other financial institutions, debt recovery practitioners or any other person accredited by the relevant tax authority; and

“assign” includes the transfer of the rights to recover a tax debt, including the sale or delegation of the authority to recover, manage and enforce the debt, in whole or in part.