Last week the IRS reported that over 276,300 current and retired federal employees owe approximately $3.04 million in unpaid taxes from 2008. Although high, this number is actually down from $3.59 million in unpaid taxes in 2007.
According to Washington Post.com, the list includes White House and Congressional staffers and current and former active-duty and reserve members of the military.
In a sign that the IRS practices what it preaches, the Treasury Department, which includes the tax-collecting agency, had the best compliance rate of Cabinet-level departments. Less than 1 percent of employees were delinquent with their taxes.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development fared worst among Cabinet departments, with slightly more than 4 percent of workers owing a combined $4.76 million.
Among all government agencies and departments, the U.S. Postal Service had the greatest number of tax delinquents. The government's second-largest employer had 28,913 workers -- or just under 4 percent -- owing roughly $298 million.
Fifty White House staffers owed a combined $812,917 in 2008, the IRS said. Up on Capitol Hill, slightly more than 4 percent of House staffers owed Uncle Sam $5.8 million, compared to 3.2 percent of Senate employees that owed almost $2.5 million.
