And you are shocked. Shocked!
But, you're even more shocked that the government is well aware of it and is letting it slide.
More than 27,000 military contractors, or about 1 in 9, are evading taxes and still continuing to win new business... The investigators also said that the government had failed to make meaningful use of its authority to collect from these delinquent companies and individuals by offsetting payments for their work.
The tax cheats owed an estimated $3 billion at the end of the 2002 fiscal year, mainly in Social Security and other payroll taxes that were diverted for business or personal use instead of being forwarded to the government, actions that could bring criminal prosecution. Lesser amounts were owed in income taxes.
The findings, by the General Accounting Office, were in a report released on Wednesday at a news briefing by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The subcommittee has scheduled a hearing on Thursday to look into what Senator Norm Coleman, the Minnesota Republican who is its chairman, called an outrageous situation...."The Pentagon needs to start targeting more firepower on the management side on fraud and abuse in the system, and go after the thousands of defense contractors that routinely renege on paying their taxes."
... The G.A.O. recommended that the Office of Management and Budget develop policy options for barring contract awards to those who abuse the federal tax system. NY Times article
Gee. There's an idea.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
Thursday, February 12, 2004
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