Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 29, 1993 TAG: 9312290034
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
And there are signs that the man, one of Virginia's most elusive and delinquent dads, may be getting nervous.
His ex-wife, a Richmond resident who spoke on condition of anonymity, says the man called her mother after receiving a letter from the IRS recently and "cussed her out" before disappearing again.
The case of the painting contractor, who owes $16,000 in legal fees and $74,000 in child and spousal support, is one of 698 especially knotty child support cases that have been turned over to the IRS under a new pilot project.
The demonstration may be a forerunner to sweeping changes in child support enforcement.
President Clinton has promised to improve child support collections as part of his overhaul of the nation's welfare system. The administration, says a senior official, sees the IRS playing a bigger role in child support collections under welfare reform.
The administration's welfare reform task force also recommends that all child support awards be updated regularly through an administrative process, rather than going through the courts, to reflect any increases in the absent parent's income.
Its plan also calls for a federal child support enforcement clearinghouse that would contain the names of all absent parents and the amounts they owe.
The IRS already has the power to dock the tax refunds of parents with delinquent child support payments, and has had the authority for years to investigate certain child support cases.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which is working with IRS and the states on the pilot project, hopes it will show whether the IRS can be more successful than state child support agencies in dealing with especially difficult cases.
by CNB