> amounting to 1.95 percent of the amount a taxpayer owes.

That's not a "convenience fee", it's a licence to print money!

When I first read the article, I was thinking "WTFH?!" Then I read at the end that the IRS is conditioning the contract on RBS Worldpay coming clean. This might be a good thing after all--now they have two big incentives to clean up their act--those convenience fees and the fact the US government will stick it where they don't want it, if you get my drift, if they screw up again.

1.95% for an e commerce transaction at the volumes that the IRS get is a total shafting.

I wonder what the chargeback clauses are in the contract as well.

Nice work if you can get it at that rate!

Paris, when it comes to shafting she knows best

Since RBS is practically owned by the British taxpayer, I quite like that we will profit from Americans paying their taxes...

the city and county here do this too. I come in in person, they say "oh you could do this online blah-de-blah" and i point out "no, i will not pay an additional fee to save you the cost of dealing with a check, thanks."

i've filled out paper tax forms as well.. Initially i'd have to pay to e-file, and now i don't trust some 3rd party who would e-file for free to not sell or data mine my tax data. I doubt they are bound by the same rules as the irs.

... it's just occurred to me that, since the bailout, we now own 60% of RBS...

Hmm!

Read it again, the IRS aren't getting stiffed, the taxpayers are picking up the tab (of course). The IRS aren't that stupid.

... IRS are banking or WorldPay screwing up and consequently taking them to court for hefty damages?.. just imagine - potentially details of every taxpayer in the states could be exposed...

The US tax payers get to pay back the UK Tax payers.....

Sounds good to me......

well, that's how the banks seem to work... although I'm not sure about the proving they are capable of performing the task bit...

An ineffective government burdened by huge debts and an antiquated financial system unable to manage them, decides to subcontract out the collecting of taxes...

France 1789

all that taxpayer data got hacked. All that information out in the wild. There would then be no reason to assume that government departments were illegally sharing data or that the IRS had previously been hacked. What better way, I ask, is there to cover up data loss than let a foreign company that doesn't meet industry standard for data protection have all your data.

I LOVE a conspiracy theory.

mine's the coat with the tinfoil hat in the pocket