Fox News’ Hillary Vaughn reported that 100,000 federal workers, including thousands employed by the Internal Revenue Service, owe a significant amount in unpaid taxes. This comes despite the agency’s authority to enforce compliance among its own staff.
“While most Americans had to write a big fat check to the government today to pay their taxes, over 100,000 federal workers are not paying their taxes in 2021. The IRS found that almost 150,000 federal workers owe about $1.5 billion in unpaid taxes,” Vaughn said. Around 5,000 of the employees work at IRS itself, and they owe 50 million in overdue taxes, according to the report. Only 20 people have been terminated even though the IRS can fire its workers who are not paying their taxes.
READ: Elon Musk says he ‘broke the IRS computer’ paying billions in taxes (January 1, 2026)
Vaughn also mentioned Senator Joni Ernst, who introduced several bills aimed at “cleaning up the IRS.” One of Ernst’s proposals would require regular reviews of IRS employees’ tax compliance.
Ernst had been a longstanding critic of federal workers dodging taxes. Last year, she introduced the Tax Delinquencies and Overdue Debts are Government Employees’ Responsibility (Tax DODGER) Act in response to reports of tax scofflaws within the bureaucracy the taxes themselves are supposed to bankroll.
Ernst had highlighted a Treasury Inspector General report showing that while 96% of IRS employees were found to be tax-compliant, more than 2,000 employees had past-due balances totaling more than $12 million as of the end of 2024. Meanwhile, a 2023 IRS report found 149,000 total federal employees owed $1.5 billion in tax liabilities for fiscal year 2021.
Ernst had also launched a call for an audit of the IRS in 2024, as part of her initial effort last fall to forge a working relationship with DOGE’s then-leader Elon Musk