WhatsApp
FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2008, file photo, the White House is seen in Washington. The White House is once again explaining how uninvited guests wound up shaking hands with President Barack Obama. This time, a Georgia couple hoping to tour the White House ended up at an invitation-only Veterans Day breakfast on Nov. 11, 2009. Officials say the couple mistakenly showed up a day early and were allowed into the breakfast because there were no public tours available. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) Original Filename: White_House_Accidental_Tourists_WX104.jpg
At least 36 members of President Obama’s executive staff owe back taxes to the federal government, Investor’s Business Daily reported on Thursday.
The Internal Revenue Service revealed that the three dozen Obama staffers owe a total of $833,970 in back taxes from 2010.
Nearly 1/3 of Obama’s aides make more than $100,000. Twenty-one of them are paid $172,200 per year, the top White House salary. In total, Obama’s staff of 457 aides made more than $37 million last year.
“It’s ironic,” Ryan Ellis, tax policy director of Americans for Tax Reform, told The Daily Caller. “The same week that President Obama says that people who paid their full obligation should pay more, it’s ironic that people who work for President Obama haven’t even paid their own taxes.”
The IRS report also said that thousands of federal employees owe a total of more than $3.4 billion in back taxes. Many of those who are delinquent on their tax obligations include employees of the U.S. Senate who worked on tax-offender laws enacted by Congress.
“The people who wanted to raise taxes to expand the size of government at the same time aren’t paying their full part,” Ellis said.
The IRS will attempt to negotiate back-tax payment plans with those who owe. None of the federal employees will be let go: According to federal law, only IRS workers can be fired for not paying.
Departments with employees who owe the IRS include both branches of Congress, the Department of Education, the Treasury Department, the Department of Justice and the Postal Service.
