According To Figures From The IRS, In 2008 Alone, 100,000 Federal Employees DID NOT Pay Their Federal Income Taxes!!! Why The Double Standard? We Would Be Sent To Jail Or Hunted Down By The IRS!

Politico

Jason Chaffetz: Ax Hill staff tax cheats

written by Erika Lovley

Wednesday March 3, 2010 at 2:04 PM EST

Congressional employees who don’t pay their taxes could be fired if Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) gets his way.

Chaffetz will introduce legislation Thursday that would allow Hill offices to get rid of the hundreds of Senate and House staffers who owe the government millions of dollars.

In 2008 alone, 447 House employees and 231 Senate workers didn’t pay their taxes, according to figures from the IRS, Office of Personnel Management and Department of Defense.

“We have over 600 staffers on Capitol Hill not paying their taxes. That’s just not acceptable,” Chaffetz said in an interview with POLITICO. “It’s disingenuous to take federal taxpayer dollars and not pay your full share of taxes. It’s wrong.”

Federal employees in the U.S. House of Representatives owed more than $5.8 million in unpaid taxes in 2008. The Senate employees owe more than $2.46 million, according to figures.

The figures show that former President George W. Bush’s employees had trouble paying up, too — 50 are delinquent, costing the government $812,917.

Under current law, only IRS employees can be terminated for nonpayment of federal income taxes.

Chaffetz’s legislation would extend the IRS policy to all government departments and agencies. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has signed on as a co-sponsor.

Chaffetz plans to introduce the bill as an amendment to similar legislation by Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.), which would prohibit the government from awarding government contracts if the contractor has serious tax debts.

Hill staffers are infamous for having low salaries. Office aides often start at less than $30,000 per year. But upper-level staffers can often make six-figure incomes — or slightly less than the $174,000 most members of Congress are paid, according to salary records from Legistorm.

By law, the IRS cannot release the individual names of people who have defaulted on their taxes. But Chaffetz’s legislation would prevent congressional offices from hiring potential employees who have tax default problems.

Congressional staffers are not the only government employees not paying their taxes. According to the IRS, nearly 100,000 federal civilian employees owed $962 million in unpaid federal income taxes in 2008.

Among the most egregious departments and agencies:

* U.S. Postal Service employees owe more than $257 million.

* Department of Veterans Affairs employees owe $131 million.

* The Army and the Navy owe $81 million and $61 million, respectively, where more than 17,000 combined employees are delinquent.

Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella says that not all staffers would be immediately fired.

The employee would have to demonstrate active defiance of their tax obligations, including ignoring letters and phone calls from the IRS.

“There is such an intolerance for government waste and abuse,” Bardella said. “If people aren’t meeting their tax obligations and are knowingly delinquent, they shouldn’t be able to keep their jobs.”