(Washington Examiner) Over 800 Internal Revenue Service employees still owe millions in back taxes despite heavy criticism from Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), who is hoping the level of tax waste will be squashed by billionaire Elon Musk, the newly tapped co-leader of the Department of Government Efficiency.
In a letter to the Iowa senator sent on Nov. 8 and shared exclusively with the Washington Examiner, the IRS noted that of the 2,044 employees who reported having balances totaling more than $12 million, 860 employees still have not paid overdue taxes. Only 20 of the 70 employees who “willfully evaded” paying their taxes were removed.
“We haven’t seen a tax revolt like this since the Boston Tea Party,” Ernst said in a statement. “If hardworking Americans dodge taxes, they are faced with steep fines and imprisonment, but it appears that tax collectors in Washington believe those rules are for thee but not for me.”
A July report, requested by Ernst, found over 5,800 IRS and contractor employees owed nearly $50 million in overdue taxes. Only 20 of the agency’s employees who failed to pay taxes were terminated.
The July report prompted Ernst to introduce the Audit the IRS Act, which would require regular tax audits of agency employees and prohibit the IRS from hiring or continuing to employ tax evaders.
Ernst’s team pointed the Washington Examiner to the fact that the level of tax cheats from the IRS, amounting to nearly $546 million, drew a response from Musk, who will co-lead DOGE with former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
“Looks like a lot of opportunity for @DOGE!” Musk posted on X, citing an article from the New York Post.
In another post, Musk lamented, “There are thousands of examples of taxpayer dollars being wasted. These just a few,” and cited a post mentioning the $50 million in back taxes owed by federal employees.
President-elect Donald Trump appointed Musk and Ramaswamy to the new organization Tuesday, which will operate outside the federal government, two of many nominations that have sent shockwaves through Washington. The organization will “dismantle bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies,” according to a statement from Trump.
