Shane Pellerin Law Firm Probate LawyerNearly 700 employees of IRS contractors owe $5.4 million in back taxes according to a report from the agency’s inspector general. More than half of those workers should be ineligible to work for the IRS because they’re not enrolled in installment plans to pay back what they owe.

The IRS requires both employees and contractors who work for them to comply with federal tax laws. Both employees and contractors of the IRS must file returns on time or either pay everything they owe the government or enroll in a payment plan.

The report suggests that while the IRS does a good job of checking compliance when contract workers first start their jobs, they should do a better job of monitoring whether they continue to follow tax laws afterward. The agency checks compliance vigorously among its 90,000 employees, and the report suggests that contractors should be held to the same tax compliance standards.

“The IRS takes tax compliance for taxpayers and those who work for the IRS very seriously,” stated the IRS in a statement. “For an IRS employee, failure to timely pay one’s full federal tax liability is considered misconduct, which may result in discipline or removal.”

“With regards to contractors, the IRS remains committed to working with these employees to help resolve their tax liabilities, and we remain committed to strengthening our policies to ensure that contractor employees are and remain tax compliant,” continued the IRS.

Source: KTRK, “700 IRS Contract Workers Owe $5.4 Million in Back Taxes,” AP, October 24, 2013