Aug 7, 2012

Do Good: House Approves Firing of Tax-Delinquent Federal Workers

The House approved legislation on July 31 that would require the federal government to terminate workers with "seriously delinquent" tax debts. The Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2011 passed on a motion to suspend the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority vote. The bill, sponsored by Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) received 263 Republican votes and 114 votes from Democrats.
The bill also prohibits the government from hiring individuals with a tax debt on which a public lien notice has been filed. The measure now goes to the Senate for approval.
The vote on the measure comes after Republicans and Democrats, especially those from the Washington, DC, area, have sparred for months over proposals dealing with the federal workforce.
Under current law, only IRS employees can be fired for income tax delinquency.
The Federal Employees Tax Accountability Bill requires the Office of Personnel Management to put in place procedures ensuring due process. The government would be required to give workers 180 days to show their debt is being paid off.
Moral of the story for government workers: Do good and pay your damn taxes like the rest of us!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

This is very interesting. I feel that the federal government should continue with their plan only if they set up a tax debt relief program. I understand that they put themselves in this mess, but this countries unemployment number will continue to increase if we don't start helping our fellow citizens.