Republican senators are raising alarms about reports indicating that a significant number of federal employees are failing to pay their taxes.
A recent audit revealed that 149,000 federal employees owe $1.5 billion in unpaid taxes, with tens of thousands being repeat offenders.
Senator Joni Ernst criticized the IRS for failing to collect these debts, highlighting that over 5,800 IRS employees owe nearly $50 million in taxes.
Senator Chuck Grassley emphasized that federal employees should be held accountable for their tax obligations.
In response to these issues, Senator Mike Braun proposed the Federal Employees and Retirees with Delinquent Tax Debt Initiative (FERDI) Act, which would disqualify individuals with serious tax debts from federal employment.
“Tens of thousands are repeat tax cheats, failing to file tax returns year after year, and the number is steadily increasing,” Sen. Joni Ernst wrote.
“There is absolutely nothing fair about forcing hardworking Americans to pay the salaries of tax-evading tax collectors while the IRS targets lower-income5 and middle-class Americans with nearly two-thirds of the new audits,” Ernst wrote.
“Taxpayers will never trust the IRS when the agency’s own auditors can’t even pass a tax audit,” Ernst continued.
