Don't Mess With Taxes

This isn't going to help with the anti-incumbent attitude across the county.

The Washington Post reports that Capitol Hill employees owed $9.3 million in back taxes last year. Even worse for the Washington workers, and their bosses, is that IRS data show tax debt among Hill employees has risen at a faster rate than the overall tax debt on the government's books.

The IRS information doesn't get specific; that is, there are no names and there's no indication of party affiliation or job title.

So conceivably, some members of Congress could be tax delinquents. Admit it. You tax geeks and political wonks are wondering if former Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) is on this latest list.

So what's the dollar damage?

The average unpaid tax bill of a Senate taxpayers is $12,787. On the House side, the overage overdue tax amount is $15,498.

While this unpaid taxes tidbit is sure to come up on some campaign spots as we head into the midterm election home stretch, federal employee tax delinquencies aren't new.

Now I'm not saying that past tax non-payments excuse federal employees, especially those who might be writing our tax laws, from paying what they owe the IRS.

But I am saying that we need to consider the source of any rantings about Capitol Hill tax scofflaws.

Some folks who latch onto this latest info might not be as upset about the actual unpaid taxes as their carefully crafted political soundbites might indicate.

• Effort to fire federal tax cheats on hold
  
• Federal workers owe IRS $3 billion
• Who owes the IRS millions? Uncle Sam
• Rangel resigns Ways and Means post
• Tax time is tax-cheating time 

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