IB 

Union Calendar No. 24 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 249 

[Report No. 113–38, Part I] 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that persons having seriously 

delinquent tax debts shall be ineligible for Federal employment. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 15, 2013 

Mr. CHAFFETZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the 

Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

APRIL 12, 2013 

Reported from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

APRIL 12, 2013 

The Committee on House Administration discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be 

printed 


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A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that persons having seriously delinquent tax debts shall be ineligible for Federal employment. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Employee Tax 

5 Accountability Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INELIGIBILITY OF PERSONS HAVING SERIOUSLY 

7 DELINQUENT TAX DEBTS FOR FEDERAL EM8 PLOYMENT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 73 of title 5, United 

10 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER VIII—INELIGIBILITY OF PER13 SONS HAVING SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT 

14 TAX DEBTS FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT 

15 ‘‘§ 7381. Definitions 

16 ‘‘For purposes of this subchapter— 

17 ‘‘(1) the term ‘seriously delinquent tax debt’ 

18 means an outstanding debt under the Internal Rev19 enue Code of 1986 for which a notice of lien has 

20 been filed in public records pursuant to section 6323 

21 of such Code, except that such term does not in22 clude— 

23 ‘‘(A) a debt that is being paid in a timely 

24 manner pursuant to an agreement under sec25 tion 6159 or section 7122 of such Code; 


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1 ‘‘(B) a debt with respect to which a collec2 tion due process hearing under section 6330 of 

3 such Code, or relief under subsection (a), (b), 

4 or (f) of section 6015 of such Code, is re5 quested or pending; 

6 ‘‘(C) a debt with respect to which a levy 

7 has been issued under section 6331 of such 

8 Code (or, in the case of an applicant for em9 ployment, a debt with respect to which the ap10 plicant agrees to be subject to a levy issued 

11 under such section); and 

12 ‘‘(D) a debt with respect to which relief 

13 under section 6343(a)(1)(D) of such Code is 

14 granted; 

15 ‘‘(2) the term ‘employee’ means an employee in 

16 or under an agency, including an individual de17 scribed in sections 2104(b) and 2105(e); and 

18 ‘‘(3) the term ‘agency’ means— 

19 ‘‘(A) an Executive agency; 

20 ‘‘(B) the United States Postal Service; 

21 ‘‘(C) the Postal Regulatory Commission; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(D) an employing authority in the legisla24 tive branch. 


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1 ‘‘§ 7382. Ineligibility for employment 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (c), any 

3 person who has a seriously delinquent tax debt shall be 

4 ineligible to be appointed or to continue serving as an em5 ployee. 

6 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT.—The head of each 

7 agency shall take appropriate measures to ensure that 

8 each person applying for employment with such agency 

9 shall be required to submit (as part of the application for 

10 employment) certification that such person does not have 

11 any seriously delinquent tax debt. 

12 ‘‘(c) REGULATIONS.—The Office of Personnel Man13 agement, in consultation with the Internal Revenue Serv14 ice, shall, for purposes of carrying out this section with 

15 respect to the executive branch, promulgate any regula16 tions which the Office considers necessary, except that 

17 such regulations shall provide for the following: 

18 ‘‘(1) All due process rights, afforded by chapter 

19 75 and any other provision of law, shall apply with 

20 respect to a determination under this section that an 

21 applicant is ineligible to be appointed or that an em22 ployee is ineligible to continue serving. 

23 ‘‘(2) Before any such determination is given ef24 fect with respect to an individual, the individual 

25 shall be afforded 180 days to demonstrate that such 


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1 individual’s debt is one described in subparagraph 

2 (A), (B), (C), or (D) of section 7381(a)(1). 

3 ‘‘(3) An employee may continue to serve, in a 

4 situation involving financial hardship, if the contin5 ued service of such employee is in the best interests 

6 of the United States, as determined on a case-by7 case basis. 

8 ‘‘(d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Director of the 

9 Office of Personnel Management shall report annually to 

10 Congress on the number of exemptions made pursuant to 

11 subsection (c)(3). 

12 ‘‘§ 7383. Review of public records 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each agency shall provide for 

14 such reviews of public records as the head of such agency 

15 considers appropriate to determine if a notice of lien (as 

16 described in section 7381(1)) has been filed with respect 

17 to an employee of or an applicant for employment with 

18 such agency. 

19 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL REQUESTS.—If a notice of lien is 

20 discovered under subsection (a) with respect to an em21 ployee or applicant for employment, the agency may— 

22 ‘‘(1) request that the employee or applicant exe23 cute and submit a form authorizing the Secretary of 

24 the Treasury to disclose to the head of the agency 

25 information limited to describing whether the emVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:43 Apr 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H249.RH H249

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1 ployee or applicant has a seriously delinquent tax 

2 debt; and 

3 ‘‘(2) contact the Secretary of the Treasury to 

4 request tax information limited to describing wheth5 er the employee or applicant has a seriously delin6 quent tax debt. 

7 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION FORM.—The Secretary of the 

8 Treasury shall make available to all agencies a standard 

9 form for the authorization described in subsection (b)(1). 

10 ‘‘(d) NEGATIVE CONSIDERATION.—The head of an 

11 agency, in considering an individual’s application for em12 ployment or in making an employee appraisal or evalua13 tion, shall give negative consideration to a refusal or fail14 ure to comply with a request under subsection (b)(1). 

15 ‘‘§ 7384. Confidentiality 

16 ‘‘Neither the head nor any other employee of an agen17 cy may— 

18 ‘‘(1) use any information furnished under the 

19 provisions of this subchapter for any purpose other 

20 than the administration of this subchapter; 

21 ‘‘(2) make any publication whereby the infor22 mation furnished by or with respect to any par23 ticular individual under this subchapter can be iden24 tified; or 


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1 ‘‘(3) permit anyone who is not an employee of 

2 such agency to examine or otherwise have access to 

3 any such information.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap5 ter 73 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by add6 ing at the end the following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER VIII—INELIGIBILITY OF PERSONS HAVING SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT TAX DEBTS FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT 

‘‘7381. Definitions. 

‘‘7382. Ineligibility for employment. 

‘‘7383. Review of public records. 

‘‘7384. Confidentiality.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

8 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

9 take effect 9 months after the date of enactment of this 

10 Act. 


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Union Calendar No. 24 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 249 

[Report No. 113–38, Part I] 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide 

debts shall be ineligible for Federal employment. that persons having seriously delinquent tax 

APRIL 12, 2013 

Reported from the Committee on Oversight and 

Government Reform 

APRIL 12, 2013 

The Committee on House Administration discharged; 

the State of the Union and ordered to be printed committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS