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Washington, D.C.—Employees and retirees of the Department of the Treasury have one of the best tax compliance rates in the federal government—a much better rate than both the Senate and the House of Representative and their staffs, as well as that of the general population—according to a report issued today by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said the performance by Treasury employees, including the more than 98,000 IRS employees represented by NTEU, shows “the seriousness with which these dedicated men and women take their responsibilities not just as federal employees but as citizens.”
The report was issued by the IRS under the agency’s Federal Employee/Retiree Delinquency Initiative (FERDI) program set up in 1993.
Overall, the report showed a non-compliance rate for federal employees—that is, those who owe taxes but have no installment plan with the IRS or who may not have filed a required return—of 2.96 percent, compared to a 5.75 percent rate for the total taxpayer population. Meanwhile, members of the Senate and House, including their staffs, had non-compliance rates of 4.44 percent and 5.03 percent, respectively.
Kelley said the numbers highlight “the unfairness of holding IRS employees to a higher standard” than both the general population and other federal employees. Under Section 1203(b) of the 1998 IRS Restructuring and Reform Act (RRA), IRS employees face mandatory termination for 10 specified offenses, including failing to file tax returns on time—even if they are due a refund.
NTEU has made repeal or substantial modification of Section 1203(b) one of its legislative priorities for the 107th Congress.
The FERDI report notes that “like all taxpayers, federal workers and retirees have the rights to installment agreements and to hardship considerations.” It says that almost 40 percent of the non-compliant government-wide workers and retirees covered by the FERDI analysis are in installment agreements, nearly double the rate of the general population, a demonstration of the good faith effort on the part of federal employees to meet their tax obligation.
NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 employees in 25 agencies and departments.