Wednesday, March 16, 2011
(graphic: lionsheartrealm.com)
Businesses owing $3.8 million in back taxes to the IRS received $356 million in contract work from the tax agency in 2009.
The inspector general for the IRS discovered this fact as part of a recent audit that also revealed companies owing taxes earned a total of $3.7 billion in work from various departments in the federal government.
Businesses were able to collect new deals from the IRS while disputing their tax liability, a process that takes an average of eight months to resolve and can last as long as nearly two years.
According to the IRS, 11% of the 535 companies with contracts at the agency (or 61 businesses) were delinquent in paying federal taxes totaling $10.6 million.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) has introduced bills that would prevent both companies and federal employees from working for the government if they owe taxes.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Tax Delinquency No Impediment to Contracts with IRS (by Robert Brodsky, Government Executive)
IRS Contractors Owed Millions in Back Taxes (by Michael Cohn, Accounting Today)
Federal Employees Who Don’t Pay their Taxes Should be Fired (by Jason Chaffetz, Daily Caller)
Existing Practices Allowed IRS Contractors to Receive Payments While Owing Delinquent Taxes (Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration) (pdf)
IRS Awarded Contracts to 20 Companies that Owed Taxes (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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