Sam Johnson Reintroduces Bill to Stop Taxpayer-Funded Bonuses to Delinquent IRS Workers

As Americans across the country are finishing up filing their tax returns, I reintroduced the No Bonuses for Tax Delinquent IRS Employees Act (H.R. 1599). The two-page bill does just as it sounds – it would prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from handing out bonuses to IRS employees who owe back taxes.

The fact that the IRS has given out bonuses and other rewards to its employees who owe back taxes is disgraceful. The people who are hired to enforce our tax laws should not be delinquent on their own taxes, let along be rewarded bonuses. Even worse, these bonuses are paid for by tax dollars. What has been going on is a slap in the face to law-abiding, tax-paying citizens, and I’m working to end this NOW. The No Bonuses for Tax Delinquent IRS Employees Act is a commonsense bill – and it’s the right thing to do.

Background:

The No Bonuses for Tax Delinquent IRS Employees Act of 2017 is in response to the most recent report released by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which revealed the IRS paid out bonuses and other rewards to employees who owe back taxes. According to the Inspector General, more than 1,100 employees received cash awards totaling more than $1 million and more than 10,000 hours in extra time off.

The IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 requires the IRS to fire workers who are tax cheats (e.g. failure to file a tax return). However, according to the Inspector General, the IRS does not, as a practical matter, take into account whether an employee has a tax problem when it comes to providing bonuses and other awards for employees.