The Homa Files

There were 3 related stories last week that have to make you scratch your head … or scream.

First, the monthly BLS jobs report indicated that 36,000 more jobs were lost (“good news” according to Harry Reid) … job losses in the private sector were offset by more jobs added in government. The federal government now spends about $125 billion annually on compensation for about 2 million civilian employees.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

Second, USA Today reported that Federal employees earn higher average salaries than private-sector workers in more than eight out of 10 occupations and that federal workers earned an average salary of $67,691 in 2008 for occupations that exist both in government and the private sector. The average pay for the same mix of jobs in the private sector was $60,046 — a difference of almost 13%. That doesn’t include the value of health, pension and other benefits, which averaged $40,785 per federal employee in 2008 vs. $9,882 per private worker. So, the total of comp plus benefits is $108,476 for a Federal employee, $69,928 for a private sector grunt — a difference of over 55%.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-04-federal-pay_N.htm

Now, the coup de grace: According to Internal Revenue Service documents, 276,300 federal employees and retirees owe $3,042,200,000 in back taxes. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (UT) introduced a bill to collect “seriously delinquent” taxes from federal employees and congressional staffers. The amendment was voted down, ostensibly because it would “overburden the Office of Personnel Management, which would be responsible for administering the provision”. And, oh yeah, government employees’ unions lobbied against the changes.

Keep reading for details …

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Provision to fire tax-delinquent federal employees pulled

A legislative compromise that would have allowed agencies to fire tax-delinquent federal employees fell apart on Thursday.

An amendment to the 2009 Contracting and Tax Accountability Act would have targeted “seriously delinquent” federal employees and congressional staffers.

Democrats raised concerns about whether the amendment would overburden the Office of Personnel Management, which would be responsible for administering the provision.

Govexec.com, March 4, 2010
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0310/030410rb1.htm

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Feds owe Uncle Sam $3B in unpaid taxes

At a time when the White House is projecting the largest deficit in the nation’s history, Uncle Sam is trying to recover billions of dollars in unpaid taxes from its own employees.

Federal workers owe more than $3 billion in income taxes they failed to pay in 2008. According to Internal Revenue Service documents, 276,300 federal employees and retirees owe $3,042,200,000.

The agency with the most tax scofflaws is the U.S. Postal Service, with 28,913 employees who owe $297,933,756.

“We urge our employees to comply with all tax laws and are encouraged that many who have been delinquent have agreed to payment plan with the IRS,” USPS spokesperson Mark Saunders said.

“We remind our employees of this responsibility as part of our mandatory annual ethics training.”

Notable agencies on the list:

Executive Office of the President (includes the White House): 50 employees owe $812,917;

U.S. Senate: 231 employees owe $2,469,026;

U.S. House of Representatives: 447 employees owe $5,809,631;

Wtop.com, December 14, 2009
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=428&sid=1838232

This entry was posted on March 8, 2010 at 7:59 am and is filed under Taxes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.