WASHINGTON – The U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration last week warned against a growing problem of employment tax noncompliance.
The investigative unit found 1.4 million employers in the United States owed about $45.6 billion in unpaid employment taxes, interest and penalties, according to a report. TIGTA, a division of the U.S. Treasury Department, says employment tax noncompliance “is a serious crime,” as it’s effectively stealing from the government.
“Those stolen funds include amounts used to fund important federal programs including Social Security and Medicaid,” according to the report. “The federal government must use general tax revenues to make whole the Social Security and Medicaid trust funds for uncollected employment taxes.”
TIGTA recommends the Treasury should consider “a focused strategy to enhance the effectiveness of addressing egregious employment tax cases,” according to the report. “In addition, the collection function should expand the criteria used to refer potential criminal cases to [Criminal Investigations] to include cases such as those over $1 million or individuals involved in 10 more companies that fail to remit payroll taxes to IRS.”
The full report can be read HERE.
