Above and Beyond the Call of Duty: Enhanced Tax Obligations of the Public Employee

Abstract

Like other members of the public, those employed by the federal and state governments have personal tax filing and payment obligations. Government agencies seem to hold public employees and officers to enhanced standards in the discharge of their personal tax obligations. The degree and extent to which the tax obligations are so enhanced is dependent on several factors, including the government agency to which the employee reports, the employee's duties, the employee's rank within the agency, and other circumstances relevant to the employee in question. Tax collection agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service generally impose the most stringent tax compliance stand­ ards on their employees. The enhanced tax obligations must be viewed in light of the employees' personal rights. As the tax law grows increasingly complex, the tax obligations of public employees can be expected to be called to question with increasing frequency, raising concerns for public employer and employee alike. The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) clearly and unequivocally requires individuals whose income exceeds a relatively low threshold to file their federal income tax returns in a timely manner [1, 2]. Failure to do so can lead to significant conse­ quences, both civil [3] and criminal [e.g., 4-5]. Most states have analogous requirements [e.g., 6-8]. The American system of income taxation is based on self-assessment in the initial filing of the return and calculation of the tax [9]. Such a system can operate only through the enforcement of "strict filing standards" [10]. Truthfulness on the part of the taxpayer is most imperative [11-13].