From Politico:
Chaffetz will introduce legislation Thursday that would allow Hill offices to get rid of the hundreds of Senate and House staffers who owe the government millions of dollars.
In 2008 alone, 447 House employees and 231 Senate workers didn't pay their taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. es, according to figures from the IRS, Office of Personnel Management and Department of Defense.
"We have over 600 staffers on Capitol Hill not paying their taxes. That's just not acceptable," Chaffetz said in an interview with POLITICO. "It's disingenuous to take federal taxpayer dollars and not pay your full share of taxes. It's wrong."
Federal employees in the U.S. House of Representatives owed more than $5.8 million in unpaid taxes in 2008. The Senate employees owe more than $2.46 million, according to figures.
600 staffers not paying taxes sounded high to me. But with the total number of staffers upwards of 20,000, that is at most a 4% non-compliance rate. The IRS in 2009 estimated a non-compliance rate of about 16% for all Americans.
One might think that those who work in the public servant sector would have more respect for government law. Then again, one might think that of the public servants too.
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