Kevin Roberts: “to get right to the subject, this amendment would restrict Federal Government employees from receiving bonuses when they…”

“to get right to the subject, this amendment would restrict Federal Government employees from receiving bonuses when they are delinquent in paying their Federal taxes. During this time of budgetary constraint, Federal agencies are looking for cost savings in order to avoid staff furloughs and cuts to important Federal programs. Given these constraints, the government should not spend scarce taxpayer dollars by giving bonuses to Federal employees unwilling--let me underscore ``unwilling''--to pay their tax bills. We just learned this week that, according to the Internal Revenue Service, as of September 2014, 304,000 Federal employees owe $3.5 billion in Federal taxes. That is an increase of over $200 million in delinquent taxes owed by Federal employees from last year. While most Federal employees play by the rules--the great majority--it is incredible that the delinquent tax debt of Federal employees has reached this level. Let's look at one agency, everybody's favorite agency, the Internal Revenue Service. Last year the Treasury Department's Inspector General for Tax Administration issued a report on the Internal Revenue Service bonuses awarded to personnel who have violated the tax laws or who have been subject to serious infractions of employee policy. According to the Inspector General, close to $3 million was awarded to staff with violations on their records, with about half of that amount going to people who have violated the Tax Code.…”