Monday, February 18th, 2019 @ 3:38PM

CFEG reports that on March 21, 2014 the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, (TIGTA), issued a report finding that IRS employees with conduct issues including tax issues received awards. http://snip.ly/z4346#https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2014reports/201410007fr.html

TIGTA found that between October 1, 2010 and December 31, 2012, IRS employees with recent substantiated conduct issues resulting in disciplinary actions such as written reprimands, suspensions, and removal received approximately $2.8 million in monetary awards, more than 27,000 hours in time-off awards, and 175 quality step increases within one year after their disciplinary action.  Employees with these conduct issues ranged from general schedule employees to managers. http://snip.ly/z4346#https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2014reports/201410007fr.html

TIGTA further reported that before awarding a permanent pay increase in the form of a quality step increase, the IRS considers prior conduct issues that resulted in a disciplinary action of a suspension of more than 14 days; however, IRS officials stated that the IRS generally does not consider conduct issues when administering other types of awards. http://snip.ly/z4346#https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2014reports/201410007fr.html

Using the Automated Labor and Employee Relations Tracking System (ALERTS) which the IRS uses to track disciplinary actions, TIGTA identified more than 2,800 employees who received an award within one year after a disciplinary action.  TIGTA’s Figure below shows more than 1,400 of these employees who had some of the most serious types of conduct issues resulting in disciplinary action brought against them.  TIGTA determined that the most serious conduct issues included late payment and/or nonpayment of Federal taxes, Government travel card misuse or delinquency, Section 1203(b) violations, misconduct, and fraud issues. The almost 1,200 employees with tax issues and Section 1203(b) violations received awards in FY 2011 through the first quarter of FY 2013 totaling more than $1.1 million in monetary awards, almost 11,000 hours of time off valued at $256,000, and 71 quality step increases. http://snip.ly/z4346#https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2014reports/201410007fr.html

Employees With Substantiated Serious Conduct Issues

TIGTA reviewed a nonrepresentative selection of 26 of the most serious conduct issues resulting in discipline cases from a population of more than 1,400 disciplinary cases for an in-depth review to determine the circumstances and reasons for the misconduct and the final adjudication of the case. From cases where there were tax-related conduct issues TIGTA found cases where IRS employees willfully understated their tax liabilities, and underreporting of income and those employees received performance awards after being disciplined for their conduct. http://snip.ly/z4346#https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2014reports/201410007fr.html

Rewarding IRS employees who fail to pay Federal taxes creates a conflict with the IRS’s charge of ensuring the integrity of the system of tax administration.  http://snip.ly/z4346#https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2014reports/201410007fr.html

Posted by cfegov
Categories: IRS Employees With Recent Conduct Issues Received Awards