Posted on 01/26/2012 7:18:22 AM PST by SeekAndFind
We heard a lot on Tuesday night from President Obama about the wealthy paying their “fair share” in his State of the Union speech. (Well, you heard it a lot; I read the speech and then commenced to have a life on Tuesday night.) Obama made half a dozen references to fairness in relation to taxes in the address, including taking a shot at Congress:
But in return, we need to change our tax code so that people like me, and an awful lot of members of Congress, pay our fair share of taxes.
Just like with charity, perhaps fairness should start at home:
From postal workers to congressional staffers, federal workers failed to pay billions in taxes in 2010. According to records released by the Internal Revenue Service, active and retired federal employees and military personnel combined owed $3,420,168,684 in unpaid taxes for 2010, an increase of more than 3 percent over the previous year.
As has been the case in past years, the agency with employees who owe the most in unpaid taxes is the U.S. Postal Service, where 25,640 employees owe nearly $270 million. Employees in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives owe more the $10 million. Active duty military owe more than $100 million.
What WTOP doesn’t mention except in a chart is what the White House itself owes. That comes to $833,970, or twice what the President makes in a year. Andrew Malcolm catches that, though, and notes that Obama’s staff can’t exactly claim poverty, either:
A new report just out from the Internal Revenue Service reveals that 36 of President Obama’s executive office staff owe the country $833,970 in back taxes. These people working for Mr. Fair Share apparently haven’t paid any share, let alone their fair share.
Previous reports have shown how well-paid Obama’s White House staff is, with 457 aides pulling down more than $37 million last year. That’s up seven workers and nearly $4 million from the Bush administration’s last year.
Nearly one-third of Obama’s aides make more than $100,000 with 21 being paid the top White House salary of $172,200, each.
The IRS’ 2010 delinquent tax revelations come as part of a required annual agency report on federal employees’ tax compliance. Turns out, an awful lot of folks being paid by taxpayers are not paying their own income taxes.
Divide the amount of delinquency by 36 and it comes to an impressive $23,165. If the average household making $50,000 pays an effective income tax rate of 20%, that comes to more than twice what the average annual household owes per year.
Perhaps Obama should focus less on castigating others for paying exactly what current law says they should, and focus more on getting his own White House in order on paying their current “fair share.”
Tim Geithner must be lending out his proprietary version of TurboTax!
You are confusing filing an incorrect, and potentially fraudulent return, with filing a correct return that fully declares all your income, but being unable to pay right at the moment. There is nothing illegal about owing money, and the IRS is happy to let you pay in installments at a stiff rate of interest.
It is the people who pay eventually who are actually the most profitable customers.
Teamwork did not build America.
HARD WORK and COMPETITION did.
It may not be illegal...but isn’t it slightly hypocritical for members of Obama’s own staff to owe $800,000 in taxes?
As to the ability to pay right now...using Obama’s ‘fair share’ rhetoric, his well paid (dare I say Rich) staffers should be able to pay....now.
I think would be “fair” if Obama resigned from office. You know give someone else a chance. In the interest of fairness and shared whateverness.
Give me a break.
Now it’s okay, even positive because eventually when the taxes are paid, the non-payers pay more.
Guess that makes not paying your taxes okay.
Oh, BTW, one always has the option of filing an amended return to correct any mistakes on a previously filed return.
Another day in Obamaland.....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.