Filed under: Capitalism, Democrat Corruption, Economy, Law, Taxes | Tags: Governmental Deadbeats, Who Owes Back Taxes?
President Obama wants more revenue. He’s doing a bit of what the British call “jiggery-pokery” in the background, trying to squeeze some more out of the rich, since everyone is supposed to hate and despise the rich — because they have more money than we do.
We have all, I am sure, envied someone who possesses something that we really want and can’t have. I remember, on a visit to family acquaintances when I was small, they had, on a table in their living room, a model horse, no more than a foot tall,covered with unborn pinto horsehide, and it was quite perfect and beautiful. I wasn’t old enough to consider the source of the horsehide, but oh how I wanted thatperfect little horse. There are other examples, mostly when I was a kid. As an adult, I’ve seen things in stores, looked at the price tag and dismissed it, but I can’t remember any envy that has stuck with me.
Do people really envy the rich so much? Will Obama’s class warfare work? Do the unemployed think that the reason they are unemployed is because the rich are not paying their fair share? I’m not sure how much revenue Obama expects to get by making the rich pay their fair share, but a good start would be collecting the $3.4 Billion in back taxes owed to the government by federal workers and retirees.
Over 279,000 federal workers owe $3.4 billion in back income taxes in 2010, up from $3.3 billion in 2009, $3.0 billion in 2008, and $2.7 billion in 2007. I assume that these are not necessarily the same people over time. When the IRS thinks you owe them money, they are on the job to collect quite promptly and persistently. According to the TaxProf Blog, the cabinet departments with the largest percentages of employee/retiree tax deadbeats are:
- Housing & Urban Development: 3.89%
- Education: 3.88%
- Army: 3.83%
- Veterans Affairs: 3.78%
- Commerce: 3.54%
- Health & Human Services: 3.51%
- Defense: 3.19%
- Air Force: 3.11%
- Navy: 3.05%
- State: 2.94%
Other departments and agencies:
- U.S. Office of Government Ethics: 6.49%
- Federal Reserve Board: 4.86%
- U.S. House of Representatives: 4.24%
- U.S. Senate: 3.08%
- SEC: 2.50%
- U.S. Tax Court: 2.25%
- Treasury Department: 0.96% (the lowest delinquency rate among cabinet departments)
Ha, Ha, Ha. The worst tax deadbeats — in the U.S. Office of Government Ethics! And the very least — the Treasury Department. Perhaps Secretary Tim Geithner explained just how embarrassing it can be to be publicly called a tax cheat, when you are trying to get the job of Secretary in charge of the IRS. Good for them. You know who else owes huge amounts of back taxes, but it litigating them — Warren Buffett.
$3.4 billion is not going to solve our red ink problem, but neither is soaking the rich for political purposes. The proper start is to quit spending so much.
ADDENDUM: Error fixed, I left out the House of Representatives.
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Interesting that various Defense-related departments or agencies (including Veterans Affairs) account collectively for almost 17%!!
Comment by Subsidy Eye February 2, 2012 @ 11:33 pmAlso, there seems to be a mistake in the second list (the Federal Reserve Board is listed twice). Here’s the list from the web site to which you linked:
1. U.S. Office of Government Ethics: 6.49%
Comment by Subsidy Eye February 3, 2012 @ 10:31 am2. Federal Reserve Board: 4.86%
3. U.S. House of Representatives: 4.24%
4. U.S. Senate: 3.08%
5. SEC: 2.50%
6. U.S. Tax Court: 2.25%
7. Treasury Department: 0.96% (the lowest delinquency rate among cabinet departments)
Good catch, thanks. Fixed.
Comment by The Elephant's Child February 3, 2012 @ 1:17 pm