Wednesday, May 25, 2011
(graphiclionsheartrealm.com
Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations that benefited from the federal stimulus plan owe the IRS more than $750 million in back taxes.
A Government Accountability Office report states that at least 3,700 recipients of $24 billion in economic stimulus were in arrears with the federal government.
Of the total owed, about 55%, or $417 million, was in the form of corporate taxes. The remainder consists of payroll taxes ($207 million) and excise, unemployment and other taxes ($133 million).
It is not illegal for government contractors to owe unpaid federal taxes, and federal contracting officers are not required to review a company’s tax delinquency unless it is already debarred or suspended for tax evasion.
However, legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate that would prevent tax-delinquent firms from conducting business with the government.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Report: Stimulus Recipients Owe $750 Million in Taxes (by Ed O'Keefe, Washington Post)
Recovery Act: Thousands of Recovery Act Contract and Grant Recipients Owe Hundreds of Millions in Federal Taxes (Government Accountability Office) (pdf)
IRS Gives $356 Million to Companies that Owe Taxes (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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