A bill that recently passed the House of Representatives calls for federal employees to be fired if they owe too much in back taxes. The proposed law, which is now scheduled to go before Senate, would affect California federal employees who were facing substantial tax debt. However, the bill provided that those trying to work out their problems with the IRS would not be included in the law
A sponsor of the bill stated that there were more than 98,000 federal employees who are not current with their tax obligations in 2010. Of these employees, over 1,000 were reported to be from the Treasury Department and just fewer than 100 from the Federal Reserve. These unsatisfied tax bills were reported to cost United States’ citizens approximately $1 billion.
Due to this concern, the bill calls for any individual who is substantially in debt to the IRS to be barred from seeking employment with the federal government. This bill, according to one of the sponsors, was to punish those employees who were blatantly ignoring the laws. The law would also require all potential federal employees to certify that they were not suffering from serious tax issues before entering into an employment arrangement.
This bill could have a wide reaching affect on California federal employees who are struggling with their taxes. Although it is not clear at this time when the bill will be voted on by the U.S. Congress, there may not be much time for individuals who have substantial tax debt to begin to make progress on meeting their overdue obligations. To protect from this potential disaster, the right tax advice may be needed to ensure that a proper plan is constructed. This plan will allow California residents the ability to pay off their taxes over time all while continuing to earn a living that can adequately provide their personal and family needs.
Source: CBS, “House bill: Fire US workers who are tax deadbeats,” Larry Margasak, Aug. 1, 2012
