For many of the Maine taxpayers targeted for federal income tax rebates of up to $600 later this summer under President George W. Bush’s recently enacted tax plan, the check may not be in the mail.

Maine Revenue Services, the state’s tax collection agency, is taking a novel approach to the collection of overdue taxes, debts owed to various state agencies and unpaid child support obligations. Using a sophisticated computer program, MRS will compare the names of the debtors against the IRS list of taxpayers who are targeted for the rebates. When there’s a match, and the recipient is targeted to receive a rebate of $150 or more, the money will be diverted to the state treasury. Rebates of less than that amount are not subject to seizure by the state.

This actually won’t be the first time the state has taken such an approach to collecting back debts, according to Tony Neves, executive director of MRS. More than half a million dollars already has been collected in a similar manner from this year’s federal income tax refunds to pay state obligations. And the Maine Department of Human Services, which has used the match program for several years to divert income tax refunds for past-due child support, recovered nearly $10 million in the past fiscal year.

The rebate checks also can be diverted to pay the Finance Authority of Maine for defaulted student loans, which currently amount to more than $22 million.

Neves notes that, once a database has been completed, nearly any debt that is owed to the state can be collected through the computer-matching agreement between federal and state governments. Taxpayers soon will receive a letter describing the upcoming rebate process. It will include notice that some or all of the rebate could be withheld for any taxpayer who owes child support or debts to the government.

Some folks likely will regard this approach as further unwarranted government intrusion into the lives of its citizens. But let’s not forget, as Neves points out, that honest taxpayers end up picking up the tab for those who shirk their financial obligations to the state. Traditional collection efforts, often involving law enforcement officers and the judicial system, can be so expensive that it’s not worth the effort and the debt is simply written off.