Comer Launches Investigation into Billions in Unpaid Taxes Owed by Federal Employees
WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) today launched an investigation into the growing rate of tax delinquency among current and retired federal employees and is seeking information on the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) efforts to improve compliance with federal tax laws. In a letter to IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank Bisignano, Chairman Comer stressed that failure to file a tax return is a federal crime and requested information regarding the agency’s enforcement actions against federal employees who have failed to file tax returns or pay taxes owed, as well as a staff-level briefing on IRS efforts to address noncompliance within the federal workforce.
“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating the increasing tax delinquency rate among current and retired federal civilian employees and the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) actions to improve tax compliance among this population. While Americans who earn income are legally required to file returns and pay what they owe, federal employees especially should be held to a high standard since their wages are paid with taxpayer dollars in the first place. Failure to file and pay taxes sets a poor example for everyone else, and more should be done to stop noncompliance before it occurs or reoccurs. The Committee requests information from the IRS to assist its oversight of how it and other federal agencies hold federal employees accountable who are delinquent in filing and paying their taxes,” wrote Chairman Comer.
According to a recent Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) report, more than 571,000 current and retired federal employees owed approximately $6.3 billion in unpaid taxes as of Fiscal Year 2024, with total tax debt increasing by 32 percent and the number of delinquent employees growing by 43 percent since Fiscal Year 2021. In addition, the report found that roughly 50,000 federal employees failed to file tax returns for two or more years, including nearly 14,000 high-income employees earning more than $100,000 annually and at least 122 individuals who failed to file for eight or more years while continuing to receive salaries funded by taxpayer dollars. In June and July 2025, the IRS mailed delinquency notices to approximately 427,000 current and retired federal employees, yet only 4,700 fully paid their outstanding tax liabilities, raising concerns about the effectiveness of current enforcement efforts.
“Failure to file a tax return is a federal crime and repeatedly failing to file demonstrates willfulness to violate the law. Upon conviction of willful failure to file a return or pay taxes, individuals can be imprisoned and fined. Non-filers flagrantly disregard the law, not only resulting in lost tax revenue, but also harming the reputation of the tax system and the federal government. Derelict employees send a signal to the public that filing and paying taxes is optional,” continued Chairman Comer. “Current law does provide other remedies that IRS could use to collect the delinquent taxes from identified federal employees. With TIGTA’s report showing continuous increases in tax noncompliance among current and former federal employees, the Committee is concerned that this trend will continue unless IRS, the Executive Branch, and Congress act now to proactively curb noncompliance with federal tax laws.”
Read the letter to the IRS here.