Federal employees owe $1.03 billion in unpaid taxes

Washington Post ^ | 23 January 2012 | Ed O'Keefe

[Lorianne]

Congressional staffers owed about $10.6 million in unpaid taxes in 2010, a slight increase from the previous year and a growing slice of the roughly $1 billion owed by federal and postal workers nationwide.

The figures come as Republican efforts to pass legislation allowing federal agencies to fire tax delinquent federal employees have slowed and as the White House continues to crack down on improper payments made by agencies to delinquent government contractors and federal beneficiaries.

About 98,000 federal, postal and congressional employees owed $1.03 billion in unpaid taxes at the end of fiscal 2010, according to records provided by the Internal Revenue Service. The total number of delinquent employees dipped slightly from 2009, but the amount owed jumped by $32 million.

The figures are “totally unacceptable and disrespectful to hardworking American taxpayers,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). “If you’re on the federal payroll, the very least you can do is pay your taxes.”

[newzjunkey]

98,000 unionized gov't employees owe an average of $10,500 in back taxes?

That's not chump change.

That looks like 98,000 jobs available for millions of unemployed Americans from here.

[funfan]

Well I wish you were in charge as you seem to have it down.
I just do not get that they can just not pay or have it taken. One year we made a mistake on our taxes and forget to list the amount of our State refund. We received notice from the IRS saying we owed I think it was $873.00 and it had a fine which I think was included in that amount can't remember without looking at the records-the actual amount of the refund we forgot to list or I should say our tax preparer forgot was $2500.00 approx. So we paid it right away after checking with our tax person. I bet if we had not paid it we would be in big trouble but then again we are in the private sector. Just burns me up!!

[RedMDer]

Click

[Colorado Cowgirl]

What burns me up more!! “The fact (is) that according to the Committee on Joint Taxation, 51 percent — that is, a majority of American households — paid no income tax in 2009. Zero. Zip. Nada. … Actually, to show how out of whack things have gotten, 30 percent of American households actually made money from the tax system by way of refundable tax credits — the Earned Income Tax Credit, among others. So 51 percent of American households paid no income tax in 2009, but 30 percent actually made money under the current system.” This has to change!!!!